Novak Djokovic is facing an anxious wait to learn whether he will be allowed to return to Australia for January’s Australian Open. The nine-time champion in Melbourne was deported at the start of the season, meaning he has an automatic three-year ban from reentering the country. As he waits to learn whether the ban can be lifted, one Minister has warned that Djokovic does not deserve to return because he didn’t “do the right thing and get vaccinated”.
Djokovic had his visa cancelled twice when he arrived in Melbourne to play this year’s Australian Open nine months ago, successfully appealing to have it reinstated the first time but failing the second time, which saw him deported on the eve of the tournament. Anyone who has their visa revoked receives an automatic three-year ban from returning to the country.
The ban can be lifted on appeal, and the world No 7 is currently waiting to learn whether he can return for the first Grand Slam of 2023. But some in Australia are strongly opposed to Djokovic re-entering the country before 2025, when his ban expires, as Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews claimed that Djokovic’s return would be a “slap in the face” because he didn’t “do the right thing”.
“There would have been other people in similar circumstances that have also had their visas cancelled,” she told ABC Radio on Monday. “So if immigration now chooses to make a special allowance for Novak Djokovic the obvious question is what are they going to do about anyone else who may be in similar circumstances?”
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