Djokovic’s visa cancelled again

tickingbird

He was given the go ahead by the organisers of the AO. They wanted him there. He may be entitled and arrogant but it was handled badly and turned into a circus. It should have been made abundantly clear before he travelled that he couldn’t enter Australia.

While I agree the situation was handled badly I do think it needs to be realised that the exemption given by TA was an exemption to play in the Australian Open NOT an exemption to enter the country. TA knew this and pushed the boundaries thinking all would go their way.
They are two entirely different matters.

doesn’t matter how many ‘shots’

It doesn’t matter at all how good a tennis player he is, it doesn’t how many ‘shots’ he missed or he didn’t miss. What matters is the rule of law. He was trying to gain entry to Australia illegally.

JenniferEccles

Australia has endured some of the harshest lockdown restrictions in the world so it would have been so unfair to have allowed the unvaccinated Djokovic permission to play.

So pleased this arrogant man is finally being deported.

Tell you what Djokovic. Spend the time when you get home having your vaccines and you will then avoid putting other countries to all this trouble.

Yes, they have tried to keep the virus under control in Australia but I wondered a while ago if it was like Canute trying to hold back the waves.

That could be right as cases are rising rapidly.
At least a majority are vaccinated now.

Crikey, Australians are so friendly and inviting! Anyone would think you actually like someone else running your lives for you. Mind you, what alternatives are there at the moment? We've got muppets running the UK. I read a good quote today, although I have no idea who said it originally. It's probably been used many times. "It's better to live on your feet, than die on your knees."

Calistemon

The right decision but seen on Twitter:

"Is Djokovic the only sportsman to be banned from a competition for not taking drugs?"

Also he is the only player to have lost a grand slam after only missing “two shots”.?

He was given the go ahead by the organisers of the AO. They wanted him there. He may be entitled and arrogant but it was handled badly and turned into a circus. It should have been made abundantly clear before he travelled that he couldn’t enter Australia.

Well done Australia. Good sense has prevailed. Djokovic is not above the law.

tickingbird

As an ardent tennis fan I think it’s a shame that this fiasco was allowed to play out. I’m not a fan of Djokovic but he’s a supreme tennis player and the AO will be worse off without him.

However, it’s obvious someone at the Australian end gave him the go ahead to enter and play. I find it highly unlikely he just travelled all that way just assuming he’d be let in. It’s left a blight on the AO and definitely diminished the Aus government.

I don’t think you can lay this at the door of the Australian government. Tennis Australia has a lot to answer for, as backed by the government in Victoria, they were the ones responsible for the exemption certificate - even though they knew that a recent covid infection was not a valid reason for exemption. Immigration officers followed incorrect procedures which led to the first cancellation of his visa, but in reinstating it, the judge didn’t take into account that his exemption certificate wasn’t legal, and that was why the Federal government stepped in and exercised their right for a review in Federal court. Nothing I’ve seen or heard so far has convinced me that this wasn’t an attempt by an arrogant and entitled man, to circumvent the rules everyone else has to follow.

It was the arrogant entitlement of him that got to me, he lied and thought the rules should be changed for him. Good on Australia, they played it out as long as he kept protesting. The man has lost far more that playing in Australia.

Good.

No brainer, I'm glad, If it was one of us we wouldn't have been able to board the plane or if we had, not allowed to step off it.

As an ardent tennis fan I think it’s a shame that this fiasco was allowed to play out. I’m not a fan of Djokovic but he’s a supreme tennis player and the AO will be worse off without him.

However, it’s obvious someone at the Australian end gave him the go ahead to enter and play. I find it highly unlikely he just travelled all that way just assuming he’d be let in. It’s left a blight on the AO and definitely diminished the Aus government.

The right decision but seen on Twitter:

"Is Djokovic the only sportsman to be banned from a competition for not taking drugs?"

As I said on a previous thread - It couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy! ?

Good!!

Just watched his flight take off on Flightradar 24

maddyone

I’m very pleased with this decision. He’s tried to play the Australians for fools, but they weren’t having it. Well done Australia.
He’s released a statement saying that he’s uncomfortable that the focus of the last week has been on him. Well he made it all about him didn’t he!

I agree. I feel sorry for the other players - the focus should have been on them and the build up to the start of the tournament. Instead this has overshadowed things, and I suspect will continue to do so. Whoever wins, there will always be those who think it was only because he didn’t play !!

Saw the decision on BBC Breakfast at 7am. I think the Australian authorities could have handled it better, but I think the decision is the right one. He was massively entitled from the word go. He didn’t want the vaccine but he also clearly didn’t want to quarantine either, and admitting that he’s previously flouted quarantine rules after testing positive won’t have helped. For me it’s very telling that he was voicing concern at the Australian quarantine rules quite a while ago, and this has been an attempt to circumvent those rules. It backfired and now he’s faced with a potential three year ban. Anyone fancy his chances next year ?

They interviewed an Australian politician yesterday on Breakfast News (possibly a previous Prime Minister). He was refreshingly pragmatic. He said that the real issue was not that Djokovic refused to have a vaccine, but that he refused to have a vaccine AND also was not prepared to quarantine, which would have allowed him to compete without being compelled to have the vaccine. He wanted an exception to be made. The politician said, “regardless of whether you like them or not, we all have to abide by the rules. He should be exactly the same.” Simples in my book…

I’m very pleased with this decision. He’s tried to play the Australians for fools, but they weren’t having it. Well done Australia.
He’s released a statement saying that he’s uncomfortable that the focus of the last week has been on him. Well he made it all about him didn’t he!

Good, just a shame it has taken so long! There are no exceptions to the rules. Will he be allowed in next year? After deportation Australian rules state that they will not be allowed in for three years I understand? In this case he won’t, depends on the virus situation anyway so who knows.

Australia has endured some of the harshest lockdown restrictions in the world so it would have been so unfair to have allowed the unvaccinated Djokovic permission to play.

So pleased this arrogant man is finally being deported.

Tell you what Djokovic. Spend the time when you get home having your vaccines and you will then avoid putting other countries to all this trouble.

He’s lost his appeal. Quite right,too. He shouldn’t have been allowed in in the first place.

About to be deported it seems.