Immigration minister Alex Hawke is mulling whether to send the tennis star packing
Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic practises at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, on January 13 2022. Picture: REUTERS/ASANKA BRENDON RATNAYAKEThe Australian Open tennis draw has been postponed until further notice, organisers said on Thursday, amid uncertainty about whether the government will cancel top seed Novak Djokovic’s visa for a second time.
The official draw was due to start at 3pm local time, but after a short delay, a tournament staffer told reporters outside the media conference room it would not go ahead. When Djokovic arrived, Australian Border Force officials decided his exemption was invalid and he was held alongside asylum seekers at an immigration detention hotel for several days.
Fans, including many Serbian Australians, gave him noisy support when he was detained, anti-vaxxers have hailed him as a hero and his family have portrayed him as a champion for individual rights.There is widespread anger over the saga among Australians, who have a 90% vaccination rate among adults and are battling a wave of the Omicron variant after enduring some of the world’s longest lockdowns aimed at curbing the pandemic.
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