Novak Djokovic had an unimaginable start of 2022 when he flew to Melbourne with a vaccine exemption on January 5. On landing the World, No 1 Ranked Tennis player was denied entry for nine long hours at the airport. Djokovic’s visa was canceled as his exemption was not related to medical issues. He was moved to a hotel in quarantine while his team prepared for an appeal. So, what is the real story behind Djokiv’s arrest?
Djokovic Visa Hearing At The Court On January 10:
Circuit Court Judge Anthony Kelly ruled in favor of Djokovic and quashed the visa cancellation. The Judge ordered the Australian government to pay legal costs and release Djokovic from detention within half an hour.
Not long after the ruling went in Djokovic’s favor, reports about Novak being arrested by the police surfaced. It was believed that the Australian government wanted to deport the Serbian giant at all costs. However, Novak shared a Tweet in the evening thanking the judge for ruling in his favor. He was excited to get back to the court and compete for his 21st Grand Slam title.
Unfortunately, Immigration Minister Alex Haeke used his powers to reimpose the penalty on January 11. Novak appealed again, but he lost the judicial review this time on January 13, after which he was deported from Australia.
Djokovic’s Fans Clashed With The Police:
After Novak lost his appeal, fuming fans swarmed across a car leaving from his lawyer’s office. The police tried hard to move them and reportedly used pepper spray to scatter the crowd.
Fans got into action when Novak’s father, Srdjan Djokovic, made a bizarre claim that his son was being detained. However, Djokovic’s brother told that the tennis player was consulting his lawyers as the Australian ministers wanted to arrest him and lock him up.
With the situation being unclear, hundreds of furious fans gathered outside his lawyer’s office in Melbourne. They stopped the car believing Novak was being taken away in it. The police had to use pepper spray to control the outraged fans as they chanted the tennis star’s nickname and hurled bottles.
Photos later confirmed that Djokovic was inside the car. Djokovic’s dad cleared things out about his arrest in a conference. However, both sides that Djokovic was ever detained by the Australian police. Sadly, he could not feature in the Australian Open on January 17 due to his deportation from the country. Novak recently became world number one again and will make a comeback at the Monte Carlo Masters soon.