Novak Djokovic has lost his appeal against the decision to revoke his Australian visa following a unanimous ruling from the federal court.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion launched legal action against the Australian government over the decision by immigration minister Alex Hawke to revoke his visa for a second time on Friday evening. In their legal file against the tennis star, it was argued that having him play at the Australian Open posed a ‘risk’ to causing civil unrest in regard to anti-vaccination protests and the country’s campaign against COVID-19. Although Djokovic’s lawyers have argued that the same will happen if he is deported from the country.
In their ruling on Sunday the Federal court states that their verdict is based solely on the legality of Hawke’s decision to revoked Djokovic’s visa and not an appeal against the decision itself. All three judges agreed with the decision which means there is no grounds to appeal against it.
“The orders of the court are, one: the amended application to be dismissed,” Judge Allsop said. “Two: reasons to be published at a later date.”
Djokovic first arrived in Australia on January 5th where he was questioned by border force officials at the Melbourne Tullamarine Airport. He is not vaccinated against COVID-19 but obtained a medical exemption to play at the Australian Open which was given to him by two independent medical panels. However, that wasn’t deemed sufficient enough to allow him a visa and it was subsequently revoked. After a brief period in a quarantine hotel, Djokovic’s legal team managed to overturn that decision before the Australian government used their executive powers to cancel the visa for a second time. Now the Federal Court of Australia has deemed the process of that decision as legally correct which means the Serbian will be deported from the country.
“I’d like to make a brief statement to address the outcomes of today’s Court hearing. I will now be taking some time to rest and to recuperate, before making any further comments beyond this. I am extremely disappointed with the ruling to dismiss my application for judicial review of the decision to cancel my visa, which means I cannot stay in Australia and participate in the Australian Open. I respect the Court’s ruling and I’ll cooperate with the relevant authorities in relation to my departure from Australia,” Djokovic said in a statement.
“I am uncomfortable that the focus of the past weeks has been on me and I hope that we can all now focus on the game and tournament I love. I would like to wish the players, tournament officials, staff, volunteers and fans all the best for the tournament.”
“Finally, I would like to thank my family, friends, team, supporters, fans and my fellow Serbians for your continued support. You have all been a great source of strength to me”
Djokovic is a nine-time champion of the Australian Open and was bidding to become only the second player in history to win it for a 10th time this year after Margaret Court. He was also bidding to claim his 21st major title overall which would have been a record in men’s tennis.
The world No.1 is now likly to remain in detention until he is deported from the country. It is also possible that he could face a ban from the country of up to three years. He has also been ordered to pay the costs of the case after losing his appeal.
