The Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic will be able to play the Australian Open, in January 2023, by lifting the ban on entering the country as a result of the controversy that arose last edition when he tried to play the tournament without being vaccinated against covid-19, one of the requirements.
Australian Immigration Minister Andrew Giles has decided that Djokovic can, if he wishes, apply for a visa to participate in the championship that takes place in Melbourneconfirmed this Tuesday to EFE a government source, who asks not to be identified as he is not authorized to speak to the press.
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The Serbian tennis player, who seeks to win his twenty-second Grand Slam -and draw with the Spanish Rafael Nadal-, He has not yet confirmed his participation in the Australian tournament, where he has won nine times.
Djokovic was deported by the Australian authorities in mid-January of this year.shortly before the start of the Australian Open, when trying to enter the country with a medical exemption in order to play the tournament, the first major of the season, without being vaccinated.
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Upon his arrival in the country, the Australian Government, then in the hands of the Liberal-National coalition, detained him at the airport when questioning the validity of that exemption and tried to deport the athlete for violating the measures against covid-19, which at that time required travelers to have the complete schedule of the vaccine against the virus or a valid receipt.
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Djokovic, who was locked up in a hotel guarded by immigration, appealed the authorities’ decision.
After an intense legal battle, the full Australian Federal Court considered that the player’s presence in the oceanic country posed a health risk and public order since it could encourage protests by anti-vaccine movements.
The tennis player was eventually deported and banned from entering the country for three years.
Djokovic’s lawyers in Australia have been seeking the suspension of this entry ban for months, arguing that the oceanic country has already lifted all the restrictions imposed by the pandemic.
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The Djokovic scandal came at a time when Australia, which tightly closed its borders during the health crisis, was facing a surge in covid-19 cases.
