I don't think there's already a thread about it, so here goes:
Seems that this is the situation so far:
- Djokovic, who is unvaccinated against COVID, got COVID earlier this year (and did media events unmasked while required to be in quarantine, but that will be an issue for the Serbian authorities to deal with).
- Tennis Australia provided guidance to players and their teams about vaccination requirements for the tournament, which said that people who recently had COVID would be allowed an exemption to the vaccination requirements. This was referring to the state rules that apply to entering the tournament venue.
- Djokovic and his staff misinterpreted TA's guidance as applying to the whole country, not just to the event venue, and applied for a visa (falsifying some important information in the process: Djokovic declared that he hadn't visited any other countries in the previous 14 days, even though he had visited several).
- Djokovic arrives in Australia and tells border officials that he's "exempt" from the vaccine requirements, but this exemption isn't a thing.
- Djokovic's visa is cancelled by the Border Force. He gets detained awaiting deportation.
- Djokovic's lawyers appeal the visa cancellation and manage to secure his release from detention until the appeal is heard.
- just recently, the immigration minister used his ministerial powers to cancel Djokovic's visa a second time. Djokovic has been ordered back into detention.
- a hearing is scheduled for Saturday. In the interim, the immigration minister has been ordered not to deport Djokovic until the hearing.
... and those are the key events in this so far.
Here's the Guardian's update page on the whole mess: https://static.guim.co.uk/images/favicon-32x32.ico
Thoughts?
Personally, I think Australia is doing the right thing by kicking Djokovic out, though it seems like something in the process failed for Djokovic to even have been allowed onto the plane to Australia in the first place.
Seems that this is the situation so far:
- Djokovic, who is unvaccinated against COVID, got COVID earlier this year (and did media events unmasked while required to be in quarantine, but that will be an issue for the Serbian authorities to deal with).
- Tennis Australia provided guidance to players and their teams about vaccination requirements for the tournament, which said that people who recently had COVID would be allowed an exemption to the vaccination requirements. This was referring to the state rules that apply to entering the tournament venue.
- Djokovic and his staff misinterpreted TA's guidance as applying to the whole country, not just to the event venue, and applied for a visa (falsifying some important information in the process: Djokovic declared that he hadn't visited any other countries in the previous 14 days, even though he had visited several).
- Djokovic arrives in Australia and tells border officials that he's "exempt" from the vaccine requirements, but this exemption isn't a thing.
- Djokovic's visa is cancelled by the Border Force. He gets detained awaiting deportation.
- Djokovic's lawyers appeal the visa cancellation and manage to secure his release from detention until the appeal is heard.
- just recently, the immigration minister used his ministerial powers to cancel Djokovic's visa a second time. Djokovic has been ordered back into detention.
- a hearing is scheduled for Saturday. In the interim, the immigration minister has been ordered not to deport Djokovic until the hearing.
... and those are the key events in this so far.
Here's the Guardian's update page on the whole mess: https://static.guim.co.uk/images/favicon-32x32.ico
Thoughts?
Personally, I think Australia is doing the right thing by kicking Djokovic out, though it seems like something in the process failed for Djokovic to even have been allowed onto the plane to Australia in the first place.