Djokovic’s visa cancelled again

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.

Good.

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.

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.

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

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.

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”.?

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."

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.

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.

doesn’t matter how many ‘shots’

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.