Tennis star Novak Djokovic has returned to his native Belgrade via Emirates to Dubai connecting on Flydubai to Belgrade after a judge upheld the Australian government’s decision to revoke his visa and deport him. Djokovic is unvaccinated.
Novak Djokovic Flies Emirates + Flydubai To Belgrade After Australia Deportation
Djokovic’s immigration saga dragged on for over a week as Australia weighed whether to allow the tennis star to remain and compete in the Australia Open. Djokovic is unvaccinated, but claims to have recovered from COVID-19 in the last month, which ostensibly qualifies him under Australian complex immigration rules to enter the country.
However, the Australian government elected to exercise its discretionary power to revoke his visa and last night the Australian Border Force escorted him from his quarantine hotel to the airport and then to the boarding gate.
Djokovic then boarded an Emirates 777-300ER, EK409, from Melbourne (MEL) to Dubai (DXB). The flight left at 10:51pm and arrived into Dubai this morning at 5:31am after a flight time of about 14 hours.
After landing in Dubai, Djokovic connected to a Flydubai 737 8 MAX to Belgrade (BEG), traveling on FZ1745 and departing at 9:42am. The flight arrived into Nikola Tesla Airport at 12:21pm after a flight of just under six hours.
Djokovic did not do himself a favor by not wearing his mask properly onboard his connection to BEG in business class:
New rule. You don’t have to wear a mask when you’re reading or eating on the plane. #Djokovich #djokovic #Lacoste #Djokovid #NovakDjokovic #NoVaxDjoCovid pic.twitter.com/ervMWhVBNv
— King of Malibu 🇺🇸🇷🇸 (@extrajohntra) January 17, 2022
In electing to depart Djokovic, Australian Immigration Minister Alex Hawke said:
Today I exercised my power under section 133C(3) of the Migration Act to cancel the visa held by Mr Novak Djokovic on health and good order grounds, on the basis that it was in the public interest to do so.
This decision followed orders by the Federal Circuit and Family Court on 10 January 2022, quashing a prior cancellation decision on procedural fairness grounds.
In making this decision, I carefully considered information provided to me by the Department of Home Affairs, the Australian Border Force and Mr Djokovic.
The Morrison Government is firmly committed to protecting Australia’s borders, particularly in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Minister for Immigration has broad discretionary powers to cancel visas where it is in the public interest to do so, including relying on a health, safety or good order basis. A judge upheld the decision, saying it was not for a court to determine the wisdom of such a decision, only whether it was legal (and the court said it was).
Djokovic was not only turned away from Australia for this year’s competition, but now faces a three-year ban.
He received a hero’s welcome upon his return to Belgrade, where fans lined up with placards and Serbian flags hailing Djokovic as a victim of injustice. Djokovic issued the following statement after a judge upheld his deportation order:
I am extremely disappointed with the Court ruling to dismiss my application for judicial review of the Minister’s decision to cancel my visa, which means I cannot stay in Australia and participate in the Australian Open.
I respect the Court’s ruling and I will cooperate with the relevant authorities in relation to my departure from the country.
I am uncomfortable that the focus of the past weeks has been on me and I hope that we can all now focus on the game and tournament I love. I would like to wish the players, tournament officials, staff, volunteers and fans all the best for the tournament.
Finally, I would like to thank my family, friends, team, supporters, fans and my fellow Serbians for your continued support. You have all been a great source of strength to me.
My Thoughts
Of course Australia has the prerogative to protect its borders and determine who should be let in or allowed to stay. But as I read Hawke’s statement concerning Djokovic, I don’t see much of a public interest in placing an asterisk by this year’s Australia Open due to the refusal to allow world’s top ranked tennis player to compete.
The punishment seems punitive and self-serving rather than a true measure to protect public health if Djokovic recently recovered from COVID-19, particularly if his body has developed antibodies.
Rules are points at which deviation is measured from and Australia has shown throughout the pandemic that the rich and well-connected receive special treatment. Here, the situation is not about being well-connected or rich per se, but about a pivotal player being allowed to compete. His deportation delegitimizes the upcoming match and does little to convince the 5% of eligible Australian citizens yet to be vaccinated they should be jabbed.
As I’ve reiterated time and again, I’m very pro-vaccine and encourage everyone to get vaccinated and boosted. Djokovic strikes me foolish to avoid the vaccination, whatever his reason for doing so.
Djokovic also did not help his case by seemingly lying about his trip to Spain and about isolating upon his positive COVID-19 test result. Then again, those were not the reasons given for the cancellation of his visa.
While Australia’s goals of promoting public health are laudable, I find its approach to so many facets of this pandemic deeply troubling. Of course I speak as an outsider looking in, and fully acknowledge that bias.
> Read More: Outrage In Australia After Nicole Kidman Dodges Mandatory Hotel Quarantine
CONCLUSION
Novak Djokovic is back in Belgrade after becoming a political pawn and facing deportation from Australia. The tennis star flew Emirates to Dubai and then flydubai to Belgrade. He now faces a three-year entry ban in Australia, which puts into question his ability to compete in future Australia Opens, even once the pandemic recedes.
Absurd. The other players should boycott and this needs to serve as a lesson to any organization dumb enough to hold any type of event in Australia. They want to shut themselves off from the rest of the world…fine. They can shut themselves off from the money too.
Why should the other players boycott? They followed the rules and were let in. Is the top-ranked player exempt from the rules?
It’s a bit more complicated (not that I would boycott if I was player).
Djokovic did not openly flout the rules – he thought he was following them (and was assured by Australian tennis authorities he was) by having evidence of recent recovery, which was one of a limited number of exemptions to the vaccine requirement.
Certainly, it is always ultimately up to the official you deal with at the border and in this case the government of Australia.
But instead, he became a scapegoat for public outrage, which does not reflect well upon Australia from my vantage point.
He did admit in court to lying on his visa application, which would be enough to have his ESTA revoked here in the US.
Didn’t openly flout the rules?
He lied on his immigration forms about not traveling elsewhere 2 weeks prior to his arrival.
He knowingly went out in public the day after testing positive back in December.
He has explicitly admitted both of these things.
He very clearly thinks that the rules do not apply to him. Every single one of us would have been deported under the same circumstances. Nice to see the famous and powerful held to account for a change.
Exactly LAX. He also travelled to Spain whilst having tested positive and knowingly broke Serbia’s own rules. It’s funny the leave pass Djokovic gets for not wearing a mask on board when other posts on this site routinely clap at some hapless passenger being ejected from the flight. There is rightly no sympathy for the individual. Djokovic is just using the situation to do exactly as he wants.
From what I’ve read, it was not so straightforward. His assistant filled out the form and he corrected it when asked. As for isolation, he cancelled all events except for a photo shoot that went ahead with distancing and a mask with L’Equipe. No defense of that…but does that disqualify him for entry? I still don’t think it should.
It looks like the French will do the same:
“ France’s tough new vaccine pass law – approved by parliament on Sunday – removes the option for people to use a recent negative test or COVID infection to gain access to restaurants, cafes, long-distance trains, cultural and entertainment venues, and – crucially for Djokovic – sporting facilities.”
“My assistant filled out the form” usually doesn’t go over very well with Immigration.
Media reports say that he lied on the visa application. If that is true, I would describe that as not following the rules.
Will whoever wins this actually think they have accomplished anything? I just scratched it from my calendar.
Nonsense. Do the Houston Rockets feel badly about their 2 championships when Jordan “retired” for a season and a half?
Only it is had been President Obama to lie to immigration officers about his whereabouts the 14 days prior to arrival and blatantly try to exert some privilege.
I know what republicans and fox would be saying.
Yes it’s incredible. It’s a situation of absurd combined with warm coffee and my office on ice when lost redundancy floats the relevant.
He competed in Melbourne during Australian Open in Feb 2021… during this same pandemic. I guess the rules changed or he got special treatment last year?
The rules were very different one year ago. The vaccine was not available to the majority of people. He thought he was above the law, I say, good riddance.
Djokovic is a clown but the circus called Australia was bigger than him. All about money and politics. Tennis Australia knew that sponsors, TV and audience would suffer without Djokovic. They assured he could go and the country issued him a visa. Then a disgraced Prime Minister realized his chances if reelection would disappear if he allowed Djokovic to stay after keeping all Australians as prisoners during the pandemic so he cancelled his visa. A huge circus. BTW, not a single person watching the games are wearing a mask.
Australian handled the pandemic differently. With total lockout, the majority of people were able to function as if Covid did not exist. Only when people broke the rules with not following the protocols did they run into trouble with outbreaks, usually with quarantines on arrivals. Life in Australia has been more normal in the last two years than most any other place.
Yes, very differently. They locked their population inside the country. Nobody in and nobody out. Actually, I have many Australian friends and they were not very pleased and do not consider being hostage inside their country normal. To each its own. I have zero interest to visit a country that thinks like in the Stone Age.
That’s not really true. Melbourne had one of the longest lockdowns in the world.
Imagine all this brouhaha because of a common cold (Omicron)
Except it isn’t a common cold.
Yea, it is
Top five symptoms:
– Runny nose
– Headache
– Fatigue (either mild or severe)
-Sneezing
– Sore throat
“As our latest data shows, omicron symptoms are predominantly cold symptoms, runny nose, headache, sore throat and sneezing, so people should stay at home as it might well be Covid,” Spector said in Zoe’s latest report Thursday.
Hopefully people now recognise the cold-like symptoms which appear to be the predominant feature of omicron,” he added.”
They may share the same symptoms but still doesn’t make it a common cold.
Nope. Wrong again.
I am shocked. He flew on a Fly Dubai 737MAX? Apparently he has not learned the dangers of the MAX which must be as dangerous as the vaccine. Nor the potential issues of pilot training/hiring in Dubai. I can’t believe he just trusted an industry of corporate greed to build a plane and fly him home without any control on his part. What a sheeple.
I find it strange that the Australian Open is not being postponed. Australia is so tight that they should not be having the competition.
A plausible reason for not getting vaccinated is that the athlete must train very hard for international competition and downtime of even 1 or 2 days because of a sore arm after a shot is too great a sacrifice. Such reason would not be a good reason for an ordinary person. However, I do not think he can use that excuse because he is so cavalier about not wearing a mask and having contact with others.
Prior infection doesn’t reliably protect you, especially with omicron. If one gets omicron, there is no guarantee that it will protect against delta or a future pi variant.
There have been numerous reports that indicate that Omicron does in fact protect against Delta. CNBC and NYT have articles on that
i think the main issue is that he openly bragged about his exemption on twitter. Otherwise, things would have been just ok for him. I also think that the minister had a doubt about the authencity of his covid test proof, which means he is a threat to public health. But from the government lawyers’ argument, they seem to think that if they allow him to win the case and stay, it would have an impact on people violating all sorts of covid rules, not necessarily the vaccination. I have to say, I agree with the minister. In any case, he is plain stupid and likes to brag his status, so I hope this is a lesson for him. Also, another stupid politics is that Serbian politicians using this case to advance their popularity. He violated the covid rule or he faked his test, but both are a serious violation. They would have responded very differently if this was an ordinaryperson. Anyway, just silly that serbians would do anything for their only famous guy even if he violates a law? If so, I have to say I am disappointed in serbs. Also an ordinary people will have their visa cancelled immediately if they lie, whether it was his agent or someone else on behalf of others. That is the visa rules, usually no mercy, but many americans who don’t deal with visa issues often do not know the magnitude of a small error in visa process and think it is ok to lie a bit in the application…
Yes, let’s keep boosting people everyday because we all know what getting shots over and over will do to us. Yes, I got my two shots which is pretty much normal for any vaccine. Booster every time someone names a new variant? Not so much.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/17/health/israel-fourth-dose-early-data/index.html
This situation proved the Australian Open or any international sports competition has no place in Australia. Djokovic had a valid medical exemption as having had Covid in the last 6 months and thus antibodies which makes him less likely to spread Covid than a triple vaccinated and boosted person. The immigration authorities revoked his Visa and the judge correctly saw he had a valid medical exemption. Then the minister Hawke used his ministerial powers to revoke Djokovic’s visa on the grounds that Djokovic was a public health risk for potentially fostering anti vaccine sentiment. Djokovic’s visa was revoked because of how he may have been perceived despite remaining silent on the issue of vaccination. Even if Djokovic publicly opposed vaccination mandates for an under-tested and new mRNA vaccine for a virus he had twice and gave him no symptoms, it’s really dystopian for a professional athlete or tourist to be banned from a country because of his views and not having committed any action. The 3 judge panel didn’t ruled on the merits of the minister’s decision but said it was legal. The judges had no courage. They could have done the right thing and ruled in favor of Djokovic.
North Korea has more freedom than Australia. It’s sad. The government is covering up the fact that mRNA vaccines don’t work well and are more risky than Covid itself. Australia has been shutdown not because of Covid but because of a totalitarian government which literally arrests people for protesting or speaking out online about Covid restrictions. The Australian Open should be cancelled.
100% agree with everything you said. It was about political power and money. The Australian Tennis Association wanted him because he brings money. The Prime Minister cancelled his visa because of his reelection plans. Djokovic was used by both. The Australian Open should not be canceled but boycotted. Any player that has some decency should simply not play there. Australia still lives in the Stone Age.
Republicans sure love cancel culture. Sounds like if the prime minister even has a chance at reelection, then his covid policies must not be as unpopular as you think. The American conservative should wake up and realize the majority of the world does not see things as they do.
Republicans love cancel culture? Are you on some meds?
The Chicks, Colin Kaepernick, Nike, Target, NASCAR, and many others agree with you.
Having watched the first Court Case live it is clear that Australian Immigration Officials bungled their handling of the matter and then did not honour their agreement to allow Djokovic to speak to his lawyers at 8am. A new Team took over from the Original Officer, walked in and cancelled the Visa (incorrectly) denied him representation then carted him off to a confinenent hotel. The Judge said this agitated him, asked what else could the man could have done and dismissed the Immigration cancellation on the grounds of unreasonable behaviour. Disregard NJ’s stupidity or arrogance for a moment and perhaps all travellers should be wary asking why Aussie Border Force thought it was ok to make the rules up as they went along? Anyone who has ever watched “Anything to Declare” on TV will have seen how Travellers have no rights, no proper representation nor any decent advice as to any minute clause might be used against them. Novax was in the wrong, but the Border Force were so keen to get him for Political and Image reasons they couldn’t even do their job properly or fairly.
Did Australia depart or deport this player? You mention depart but I think you mean deport
“I’m very pro-vaccine and encourage everyone to get vaccinated and boosted”
What an irresponsible statement. How can you encourage someone to accept a medical treatment, without being a medical doctor, without knowing the individual circumstances of every patient? Would you take responsibility for adverse reactions? Maybe stop repeating the propaganda? Everyone should take the decision on the basis of individual risk-benefit analysis. I wouldn’t encourage EVERYONE to take an aspirin, even. And you have no problems encouraging your readers to accept an experimental gene treatment. Unbelievable.
Keep drinking the Kool-Aid! Sadly, your loss, not mine.
Yet Djokovic flew on a 737Max. Pick your poison. Or walk the rest of your life.
Sport is about setting rules, and players must abide. PEDs are the same way, if he thinks that a vaccine will negatively affect his performance, well all the other players have taken it. So in his mind perhaps getting vaccinated puts him at an advantage? Is that fair?
Besides, we have no idea if his Dec 16 positive test is real, or just a ruse to get an exemption. Sports really needs a way to test for immunity, either via vaccination or antibodies.
*NOT getting vaccinated, typo
This guy lied and got caught. Good on the Aussies for kicking him out.
Agreed. It’s not plausible that an assistant would make a “human error” when filling out an entry form for Australia. Not when your boss is the number one seed for the Open which is the sole purpose for the trip.
Australians were rightly incensed that Novak, based on his star status, sought to buck the rules with which they have lived for nearly two years. By showing up unvaccinated, he gambled and lost.
Acura, you are banned from commenting on Live and Let’s Fly pursuant to our new comment policy:
https://liveandletsfly.com/comment-policy/
I woke up this morning to find links, consecutive posts, and profanity. You will not curse other people out in this forum or fail to respect community guidelines. Your ban has nothing to do with your viewpoints, as detestably misleading as I find them.
The joker is an exemplary stereotype of a dumb arrogant jock. He thinks fame and priviledge will open any doors (borders) at his command. I used to think of him as a good role model for kids, but not anymore.