© LOREN ELLIOTT
Novak Djokovic
The world number one in tennis won a victory in his duel once morest the Australian authorities on Monday. A judge ordered his release from the detention center in which he was placed five days ago. Djokovic is however not sure of being able to play the Australian Open.
Incredible twist in the Djokovic affair. This Monday, January 10 in Melbourne, Australian justice ordered the release of the world’s number one tennis player of the detention center in which he has been held for five days. His lawyers convinced the federal court that the Serbian champion had contracted the Covid in December, which exempts him from a compulsory vaccination to enter the territory. Judge Anthony Kelly ruled that Djokovic provided evidence, from “a professor and an eminently qualified doctor” regarding his request for medical exemption. “What more might this man have done?” He asks. For the Serb, the victory is indisputable. But not complete. It is not sure whether he can play the Australian Open which begins Monday, January 17. An Australian government lawyer said Canberra might still order his deportation.
“You must be Djoking”
For Australia, this reversal in mondovision constitutes in any case a humiliating defeat. The soap opera began at the end of November. Asked regarding his participation in the Australian tournament Djokovic kicked in touch. The player is not vaccinated once morest Covid. However, to come to the Antipodes, vaccination is compulsory … unless the person benefits from an exemption. This is the case for Djoko. Last Tuesday, he announced on his Instagram account that he had obtained medical exemption. He then broadcasts a photo of himself all smiles with his luggage on the tarmac at Dubai airport, ready to take his jet to Australia. On the island-continent, there is an outcry. From Sydney to Perth, the exemption granted to Djokovic goes badly. National newspapers The Age and The Australian puns compete on “Novax” Djokovic. “You must be Djoking”, indignant the Mail-Mail. The political authorities are not left out. If the evidence to support this waiver is “insufficient”, “said Prime Minister Scott Morrison, then Djokovic” will not be treated any differently from anyone else, and he will return home on the first plane. ”
Placed in a detention center
Arrived Wednesday in Melbourne, Djoko sees his visa canceled. Australian Customs explain that the world number one “did not provide the appropriate elements to enter Australia” and that “foreign nationals who do not have a valid visa or whose visa has been canceled will be detained and expelled from Australia “. Novak Djokovic was then stranded at the Park Hotel in Melbourne, a detention center for foreigners where 32 migrants were detained, some for years. The affair took a diplomatic turn when Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who spoke on the phone with Djoko, wrote on Instagram that “all of Serbia is with him” and that “the authorities were taking all necessary measures to ensure that the mistreatment of the best tennis player in the world cease as soon as possible. ”
The world number one then files an appeal. He contests in court the decision of the Australian authorities to cancel his visa and to expel him from the country. His lawyers are applying for a provisional injunction to postpone his deportation. And get a reprieve until Monday, January 10. While awaiting judgment, Serbian supporters, anti-vaccination activists and migrant rights activists gather at the Park Hotel in a loud protest. Ditto in Belgrade, where Djokovic’s parents ensure that their son is living a nightmare in an unsanitary place.
A divisive player
What to remember from this incredible imbroglio? The first point concerns Djokovic. The champion once once more demonstrated his great mental strength. When the Australian authorities placed him in a detention center, he might have refused and left Australia. He did not do it. He, who is used to living in suites in five-star hotels, was not put off by the conditions of detention. He preferred to defend his position in court. His attitude, however, is far from irreproachable. We know that Novak does not have the smooth profile of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. The world number one is a divisive player, a regular in controversies. In June 2020, in the midst of a pandemic and while the professional tennis circuit was at a standstill, it had organized exhibition tournaments in the Balkans. As a result, several players including himself tested positive for the coronavirus. Three months later it was disqualified at the US Open for accidentally hitting a linesman.
Regarding the vaccine, Djoko has always affirmed his skepticism. Cis his right. As it is his right to attempt to obtain an exemption from the moment Australia issues one. The reason for his waiver is that he tested positive for Covid-19 on December 16 in Belgrade, his lawyers say. Of which act. But where the shoe pinch is that the same day the champion attended two public events in the Serbian capital without a mask. And the next day, he participated in a ceremony in honor of young players and then in the presentation of a tribute stamp to his effigy. Irresponsible. Djokovic also showed great lightness by boasting on Instagram. He should have known or his communicators should have informed him that Australia is not joking with the health crisis. Its strategy is zero Covid. Melbourne is the most confined city in the world: 262 days! If he had landed in the Antipodes like an average passenger, he would have obtained his visa. And for the authorities it would then have been much more complicated to arrest him and place him in a detention center.
Amateurism and cynicism
The second observation of this story concerns the astonishing amateurism of the leaders of the Australian Open who failed to tune their violins with Canberra on the policy to be followed in terms of the prevention of Covid. Is the system of exemptions allowed? Is it eligible for non-Australian citizens? The case also reveals the incredible mediocrity of Australia’s political staff. Populist Scott Morrison is no stranger to the French. Last September, this Pentecostal Protestant, a great defender of coal, had already distinguished himself in the submarine affair by breaking the $ 50 billion contract that Naval Group had signed with the Australian Navy to hand it over to the Americans. A gesture to say the least inelegant and inappropriate when one is supposed to be allies.
The Prime Minister repeats this time by attacking Djokovic. In doing so, he takes little risk. The theme is promising. Especially since there are legislative elections next June. Australians, who have made enormous efforts to limit the spread of the Covid, are rightly sensitive to all gestures that may appear to be privileges. The problem here is Scott Morrison’s cynicism. Djokovic is Serbian and Serbia weighs nothing on the international map. Belgrade is not Washington. If the affair had concerned the American Serena Williams, the Australian Prime Minister would have been much less demonstrative.