False information on the entry form might prevent world number one Novak Djokovic from defending his Australian Open title next Monday, an answer he gave regarding his travel places in the last two weeks before arriving in Melbourne.
In response to a typical question in travel documents whether he has traveled or will travel somewhere in the last 14 days before heading to Australia, he marked the answer “no” on the form that was made public Tuesday.
However, posts on social media suggest otherwise. It shows that the Serb living in Monte Carlo was in the Serbian capital Belgrade and then the city of Marbella in Spain in the 14 days before his arrival in Melbourne.
After the Australian government’s resounding loss to Djokovic in court on Monday over the cancellation of his entry visa to the country for not fulfilling the conditions related to the Corona virus pandemic for not receiving the vaccine, Immigration Minister Alex Hawke said he might still deport the world number one.
And he would have reason to do so if Djokovic was found to have lied on his entry form.
The travel form clearly states that “giving false or misleading information is a serious crime” and can lead to a three-year ban on entry to Australia.
Djokovic was seen in Belgrade on December 25 with Serbian handball player Petar Djurdic, as the photo appeared on the latter’s Instagram account.
There appears to be indisputable evidence that he traveled to Spain around New Year’s Eve. On January 2, the local newspaper, Diario Sur, took a photo of Djokovic playing at the Puente Romano club in Sierra Blanca in Marbella, where he was staying in a villa.
On December 31, the Soto Tennis Academy also posted a video of the player training in Marbella, and tweeted, “We can confirm Djokovic is ready for the Australian Open if possible.”
Noli, 34, arrived in Melbourne on the 5th of this month following receiving a medical exemption from tournament organizers, before his visa was revoked at the airport, starting a legal battle that ended when a federal judge ordered the decision to be overturned on Monday.
Even before what happened in the last two weeks before his arrival in Australia, Djokovic was seen in Belgrade following claiming to have contracted Covid-19 on December 16, which is the reason for which he was granted medical exemption.
However, this matter also sparked controversy, following he attended the following day (December 17) a tribute to young Serbian players without a mask in Belgrade, according to photos published by the Serbian Tennis Federation on social media. He also underwent a photo session with the French newspaper L’Equipe two days later, on the 18th of the aforementioned month, according to the newspaper itself.
His brother Djordji confirmed during the press conference that Novak was injured on December 16, and when asked by a journalist, “Was he in a public place on December 17 when he was injured?”, he replied, “The press conference is over.”
Since leaving Melbourne’s passenger detention facility on Monday, Djokovic has continued his activity as if everything was normal and trained ahead of next Monday’s tournament.
But he will see if these videos or the wrong information in the form will lead to him being disqualified from participating in the tournament or not.
Djokovic said his assistant team filled out the form required to travel to Australia and made an “administrative error” when he checked the “no” box in response to a question regarding his travels anywhere in the last 14 days before coming to Australia.
The Serbian player added, “This is a human error and certainly not intentional, we live in challenging times in light of a global pandemic, and sometimes these mistakes happen.”
Djokovic, who is eyeing a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam title, said his defense team submitted additional information and documents to the Australian government today to clarify the situation.
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