Djokovic’s visa could be canceled for “character reasons”
“When he plays, it gets uncomfortable for Djokovic”
Former tennis professional Carl-Uwe “Charly” Steeb is surprised that Novak Djokovic could get into “such a situation” at all. Should he end up defending his title at the Australian Open, he will “not make friends”.
Tennis star Novak Djokovic now has to admit mistakes in his travel declaration for Australia. He also blames his manager for this. The responsible immigration minister postpones his decision.
NIn the Corona thriller about his entry to Australia, ovak Djokovic denied deliberate false information and the endangerment of other people. However, the tennis star admitted errors in dealing with his positive test result. According to a media report, a decision on whether the world number one will be allowed to stay in Australia after the turbulence that has been noticed around the world will not be made until Thursday.
The 34-year-old Serb defended himself on Wednesday in a first detailed statement via Instagram against two allegations in particular: Neither did he intentionally provide false information about his travel behavior in the 14 days before the flight to the host country of the coming week’s Australian Open, nor Knowing his positive corona test, he attended an event with children in December and moved there without a mask.
According to a report by the Australian news agency AAP, new information from Djokovic’s lawyers had postponed the time frame, said the office of Australian Immigration Minister Alex Hawke. Other documents had been submitted that could prove relevant to a possible cancellation of Djokovic’s visa. “That will of course affect the timeframe for a decision,” it said. The decision should therefore not be made before Thursday.
Djokovic has to admit more and more inconsistencies
According to expert on immigration law, Christopher Levingston, the government could cancel Djokovic’s visa on criminal grounds, for example because the travel declaration was not filled out correctly. The immigration minister could also cancel the visa for reasons of character. If Djokovic knowingly bypassed Serbian isolation rules for positive cases, he could be classified as a risk for potentially failing to obey public health orders while in Australia, Levingston said. Both Djokovic and the government had various options to appeal, but ultimately the Minister of Immigration could use his personal power to cancel the visa.
Because Djokovic had to admit the mistake in his travel declaration for Australia. A box was ticked inside that said he had not traveled to any other country in the 14 days prior to his flight to Melbourne. In fact, media reports and pictures on internet platforms show that he flew from Serbia to Spain during this period.
The declaration had been “submitted on my behalf” by his supervisory team. He told the immigration authorities that on his arrival, said Djokovic. “My agent sincerely apologizes,” he added. It is a “human error and certainly not an intention”.
However, Djokovic also described the “misinformation” that needed to be corrected as “hurtful and worrying to my family”. He wants to point out that he has tried very hard for the safety of others and compliance with test specifications. It was important to him to clarify all of this, but he would not comment on the incident out of respect for the Australian government.
Meanwhile, his mother Dijana Djokovic did that. She urged the Australian government on Wednesday not to revoke her son’s visa at the last minute and let him play the tournament. “Don’t throw him out. He’s not a politician, he’s a tennis player. He’s not a criminal, he’s not a murderer, ”she told Channel 7.
“I had no symptoms and felt good”
However, the Serb also admitted that in an interview with the French sports newspaper “L’Equipe” on December 18, he already knew about his positive test result and had not canceled the appointment. He just kept his distance and only removed his mask for the photographer. “Although I went home after the interview and went into isolation for the prescribed length of time, after thinking more carefully, that was a misjudgment and I understand that I should have postponed this commitment,” he wrote.
An event with children on December 17th also came into focus. There he appeared without a mask. But he didn’t know anything about his positive result, said Djokovic. He did a negative antigen test on December 16 and, out of sheer caution, also a PCR test. “I had no symptoms and felt fine and I received the news of the positive PCR test only after the event,” said Djokovic.
From the point of view of the Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, so far a great supporter of the folk hero, Djokovic’s behavior now raises questions about possible violations of the law. “There is a certain gray area, and only Novak can provide answers in this regard,” said the politician on Tuesday evening on the British television broadcaster BBC. You yourself could neither know nor judge whether Djokovic knew of his positive result when he presented himself at an event with children the day after the test without distance and mask.
With regard to this test, Der Spiegel reports that the PCR test submitted by Djokovic’s lawyers in a Serbian database was dated to a later date and not from December 16.
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