Djokovic arrives in Dubai after deportation from Australia
Novak Djokovic arrived in Dubai earlier on Monday, after his deportation from Australia over its required COVID-19 vaccination, which ended the No. 1-ranked men’s tennis player’s hopes of defending his Australian Open title.
The Emirates plane carrying Djokovic touched down after a 13 hours and 30 minutes flight from Melbourne, where he had argued in court he should be allowed to stay in the country and compete in the tournament under a medical exemption due to a coronavirus infection in December.
At Dubai International Airport, arriving passengers, wearing mandatory face masks, collected their bags and walked out of the cavernous terminal.
Over an hour after Djokovic’s flight arrived, he did not come out of baggage claim, as many passengers from his plane already had picked up their bags on the carousel.
Also read: Djokovic deported from Australia after court upholds visa cancellation
It wasn’t immediately clear where Djokovic planned to travel next. The Dubai Duty Free tennis tournament, which Djokovic won in 2020, does not start until February 14.
Dubai, the commercial capital of the United Arab Emirates, does not require travellers to be vaccinated, though they must show a negative PCR test to board a flight.
Djokovic has won nine Australian Open titles, including three in a row, and a total of 20 Grand Slam singles trophies, tied with rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for the most in the history of men’s tennis. Federer is not playing while recovering from injury, and Nadal is the only former Australian Open men’s champion in the tournament that began on Monday.
Djokovic’s visa was initially cancelled on January 6 by a border official who decided that he did not qualify for a medical exemption from Australia’s rules for unvaccinated visitors. He was exempted from the tournament’s vaccine rules because he had been infected with the virus within the previous six months. He won an appeal to stay for the tournament, but Australia’s immigration minister later revoked his visa.
Also read: What does Djokovic do at a detention centre in Australia?
Three Federal Court judges decided unanimously Sunday to affirm the immigration minister’s right to cancel Djokovic’s visa.
I welcome today’s unanimous decision by the Full Federal Court of Australia, upholding my decision to exercise my power under the Migration Act to cancel Mr Novak Djokovic’s visa in the public interest.
I can confirm that Mr Djokovic has now departed Australia. pic.twitter.com/8CapwFeDCS
— Alex Hawke MP (@AlexHawkeMP) January 16, 2022
Vaccination amid the pandemic was a requirement for anyone at the Australian Open, whether players, their coaches or anyone at the tournament site.
More than 95 per cent of all Top 100 men and women in their tour’s respective rankings are vaccinated. At least two men American Tennys Sandgren and Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert skipped the first major tournament of the year due to the vaccine requirement.
Djokovic’s attempt to get the medical exemption for not being vaccinated sparked anger in Australia, where strict lockdowns in cities and curbs on international travel have been employed to try to control the spread of the coronavirus since the pandemic began.
(With inputs from Agencies)
