Novak Djokovic has won his court case and will play at the Australian Open, after a painstaking court hearing that lasted several hours and ended late at night.This is not only a victory for Novak, the best tennis player in the world, but it is something that the whole of Serbia had hoped for after the tennis player’s troubles in Melbourne.
The government will seek to have his appeal dismissed with costs, paving the way for his deportation as soon as Monday evening.
The Australian government cancelled 34-year-old Djokovic’s visa shortly after he arrived in Melbourne late on Wednesday to play in the Australian Open because officials decided he didn’t meet the criteria for an exemption to an entry requirement that all non-citizens be fully vaccinated for COVID-19.
Djokovic, who court documents say is unvaccinated, argued he did not need proof of vaccination because he had evidence that he had been infected with the coronavirus last month.
Circuit Court Judge Anthony Kelly noted that Djokovic had provided officials at Melbourne’s airport with a medical exemption given him by Tennis Australia, which is organising the tournament that starts on January 17, and two medical panels.
Australian medical authorities have ruled that a temporary exemption for the vaccination rule can be provided to people who have been infected with COVID-19 within six months.
(Blic, 10.01.2022)
This post is also available in: Italiano