Four days after Novak Djokovic’s appeal against revoking his visa was dismissed, the Federal Supreme Court announced its reasoning. It was therefore reasonable for the Australian government to assume that Serbian tennis supporters had an anti-vaccination attitude and were a threat to the population. This shows the documents that the court published on Thursday.
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“A world tennis star can affect people of all ages, young or old, but especially the young and easily affected,” all three judges said. Even if Djokovic hadn’t won the Australian Open, the fact that he plays tennis in Australia may encourage those who want to be like him and thus fuel anti-vaccination sentiment, it Told.
The Djokovic side had previously argued that portraying the Serbian tennis star as anti-vaccination was unfair and that Immigration Secretary Alex Hawke may not have known his attitude. However, the court proved that the government’s approach was justified, also because Djokovic had decided against vaccination.
After several days of legal disputes, the federal court in Melbourne declared visa withdrawal legal last Sunday. The world number one then had to leave Australia and could not defend his title at the ongoing Australian Open. Djokovic had traveled to Australia without vaccination as he wanted to participate in the Grand Slam tournament with a medical exemption. However, when he entered the country, his visa was revoked because the 34-year-old Serb could not provide sufficient documents for a special permit.
