Court filing says Djokovic had clearance to enter Australia
Tennis world number one Novak Djokovic contracted Covid-19 last month, but was not experiencing symptoms and had written clearance from Australia’s immigration department before travelling to the country with a medical exemption from its vaccination rules, his lawyers said in a court filing yesterday.
Djokovic, who is in immigration detention in Australia, after having his visa cancelled on arrival on Thursday, returned his first positive Covid-19 test on December 16, but 14 days later “had not had a fever or respiratory symptoms of Covid-19 in the past 72 hours”, the filing said.
Djokovic, an outspoken critic of mandatory vaccination, has not disclosed his own vaccination status.He is challenging his visa cancellation in Australia’s federal court in the hopes of playing in and winning his 21st grand slam at the Australian Open, which starts on January 17.