World number one tennis player Novak Djokovic has had his visa to enter Australia dramatically revoked on his arrival in Melbourne, amid a huge backlash over a vaccine exemption.
Djokovic was held in the airport for several hours before border officials announced he had not met entry rules.
He was then taken to a government detention hotel. A court will decide on his deportation on Monday.
The row is around an exemption he said he had to play in the Australian Open.
The Serbian player has not spoken about his vaccination status, but last year he said he was “opposed to vaccination”.
Tournament organisers said Djokovic’s medical exemption had been granted by two independent medical panels organised by Tennis Australia and Victoria state, and denied he had been given special treatment.
The decision infuriated many in a country that has seen a surge in Covid-19 cases, and where over 90% of those over 16 are fully vaccinated. People have also had to endure some of the world’s strictest restrictions and some still cannot travel between states or leave the country.
On Wednesday, border officials said Djokovic had “failed to provide appropriate evidence” for entry after arriving from Dubai. He is now being held at a hotel in the Melbourne suburb of Carlton which is used for immigration detention.
“Non-citizens who do not hold a valid visa on entry or who have had their visa cancelled will be detained and removed from Australia,” the Australian Border Force (ABF) said in a statement.
Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison denied Djokovic was being singled out and said no-one was above the country’s rules. But he added that Djokovic’s stance on vaccination had drawn attention.
“When you get people making public statements – of what they say they have, and what they are going to do, and what their claims are – well they draw significant attention to themselves,” Mr Morrison told reporters.
Though Djokovic’s reason for an exemption has not been disclosed, Mr Morrison said contracting Covid-19 in the past six months was not among federal criteria for one, and that the ABF had previously advised Tennis Australia on visa expectations.
The saga prompted Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to say Djokovic was a victim of “harassment” and that “the whole of Serbia” supported him. Mr Morrison denied the visa cancellation was because of “any particular position in relation to Serbia”, describing the nation as “a good friend of Australia”.
Outside the hotel where Djokovic was being held, supporters of the tennis player expressed anger at his treatment. “It’s an international scandal and the world is watching,” a Serbian woman, identified only as Jelena, told the BBC.
The player’s father, Srdjan Djokovic, said his son had been held in a room guarded by police at the airport. “This is not just a fight for Novak, but a fight for the whole world,” he said in a statement.
“Rules are rules,” the prime minister says, about Novak Djokovic being deported. Scott Morrison is back to talking tough but so far he has not explained or answered the glaring questions at the heart of this story.
Source: BBC