The no vaccination, no entry rule appears to have halted for Serbian player Novak Djokovic. His path to playing in the next year’s Australian Open following the almost reversal of the visa ban by the Australian government has opened up. He was strictly stopped early in January for not adhering to covid vaccination norm but in November his ordeal appears to be over for all time to come, as news pours in.
The Serbian tennis star’s refusal to be vaccinated against Covid was no longer a big issue. He was deported from Australia after ten days, despite embarking upon a successful legal challenge. The country had some of the strictest pandemic restrictions in the world. When Djokovic arrived in Australia in January, Covid cases were skyrocketing. Amidst such a difficult situation the government rules required anyone entering the country to be first fully vaccinated unless they had a valid medication exemption.
Djokovic did not meet the simple rigorous requirements for entry, so the government said his visa would be cancelled. As a result, he was automatically banned from entering the country for three years. Even the then-Immigration Minister Alex Hawke used special discretionary powers to cancel his visa strictly in the public interest.
However, when the new government came to power in May, Immigration Minister Andrew Giles reversed the entry ban. As the BBC has ensured that Djokovic is now set to be enabled with a visa. Meanwhile, Tennis Australia’s head Craig Tiley was not wary of Djokovic’s participation in the next year’s Open tennis tournament.