Australia Court Hears Novak Djokovic’s Appeal

Federal officials wrote to Tiley in November to indicate that testing positive for the virus during the past six months would not be sufficient to gain automatic entry into the country without vaccination. But letters leaked to Australian news outlets showed that an adviser to Australia’s federal chief health officer had also told Tennis Australia that the state of Victoria, where the tournament is being held, was responsible for assessing exemptions.

On Dec. 2, Brett Sutton, the chief health officer in Victoria, wrote to Tennis Australia: “Anyone with a history of recent Covid-19 infection (defined as within 6 months) and who can provide appropriate evidence of this medical history, is exempt from quarantine obligations upon arrival in Victoria from overseas.”

Five days later, Tennis Australia passed on the message to players.

Djokovic landed at Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne around 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday. After a nearly 10-hour standoff at the airport, border officials said he would have to leave the country. He was held in a room overnight over the validity of his visa and questions about the evidence supporting his medical exemption.

His team filed a legal challenge to the ruling on Thursday. A judge said Djokovic would be allowed to remain in Australia at a hotel that houses refugees at least until Monday as his lawyers awaited a hearing.

By that point, the decision had already become political. Australian leaders have a long history of winning elections with tough talk on border enforcement, despite the country’s harsh treatment of asylum seekers in offshore detention centers, and Mr. Morrison has followed a predictable script.

Facing a tough re-election campaign as the economy starts to seize up from a surge of absences caused by an Omicron outbreak and a shortage of testing capacity, he pounced on the decision to cancel Djokovic’s visa, trying to frame it as a clear-cut case of law and order.

“Rules are rules,” he said, adding, “Our government has strong form when it comes to securing our borders, and I don’t think anybody doubts that.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/09/sports/tennis/novak-djokovic-australian-open-vaccine.html