Australian Border Force moves to deport tennis star Novak Djokovic after visa cancellation

World number one tennis star Novak Djokovic, who had on Tuesday been granted a medical exemption to play in the 2022 Australian Open, is facing deportation from the country after having his visa revoked on his arrival in Melbourne overnight.

Djokovic arrived in Melbourne last night looking to defend his Australian Open men’s single title after being one of only a "handful" of tournament exemptions granted among 26 applications from players and their support staff.

However, the 34-year-old had his visa to enter the country revoked and was held at Tullamarine Airport for several hours before the Australian Border Force announced he had not met entry rules and would be deported.

Djokovic has reportedly now been taken to a Federal Government detention hotel pending his departure on an outbound flight.

The developments followed a backlash over the vaccine exemption Djokovic had received to play in the Australian Open, approved, as Tennis Australia advised on Tuesday, "by two separate independent panels of medical experts".

Reacting to Djokovic's via being revoked at a press conference this morning, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he had been advised that a medical exemption was not in place for the player's entry.

Prime Minister Morrison noted "entry with a visa requires double vaccination or a medical exemption (and) I am advised that such an exemption was not in place, and as such he is subject to the same rules as anyone else.”

Events unfolded shortly after Djokovic’s arrival in Melbourne on a flight from Dubai, when authorities noticed that his team had not requested a visa that permits medical exemptions for being unvaccinated.

Djokovic has not spoken about his vaccination status, but last year he said he was "opposed to vaccination".

In a statement, the Australian Border Force said Djokovic "failed to provide appropriate evidence to meet the entry requirements to Australia, and his visa has been subsequently cancelled” adding “non-citizens who do not hold a valid visa on entry or who have had their visa cancelled will be detained and removed from Australia.”

The tennis star's treatment has provoked outrage in his native Serbia and risks becoming a diplomatic incident.

His father, Srdjan Djokovic said his son had been in a room guarded by police, advising in a statement released to the media “this is not just a fight for Novak, but a fight for the whole world.
Serbian President Aleksander Vucic said the star was a victim of "harassment" and said that "the whole of Serbia" supported him.

The defending Australian Open champion was detained by Border Force after arriving in Melbourne late last night on a plane from Dubai.

On Tuesday, a statement from Tennis Australia advised that Djokovic had been granted a medical exemption "following a rigorous review process involving two separate independent panels of medical experts.”

Originally published as 'Australia to deport tennis star Novak Djokovic after visa cancellation'.

Image: Novak Djokovic at the US Open. Credit: Shutterstock.