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Novak Djokovic to Be Deported From Australia After Losing Visa Cancellation Appeal

Novak Djokovic to Be Deported From Australia After Losing Visa Cancellation Appeal

Novak Djokovic has been ordered to leave Australia after the federal court dismissed his bid to restore his visa.

On Sunday (January 16), the court decided not to challenge Australia’s immigration minister Alex Hawke‘s decision to cancel the 34-year-old tennis pro’s visa, less than 24 hours before he was set to compete in the 2022 Australian Open.

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During the hearing, Chief Justice James Allsop announced that the court unanimously voted that Novak‘s presence in Australia might risk “civil unrest” as he is a “talisman of anti-vaccination sentiment,” according to The Guardian.

Novak was granted an exemption to the COVID-19 vaccine requirement to play at the tennis event, however, the visa he requested did not include any medical exemptions. When he arrived in Melbourne on Jan. 6, he was detained in an immigration facility after officials decided he did not have sufficient medical justifications for a vaccine exemption.

He was then released from the facility on Jan. 10 after the court overturned the visa cancellation, but by the 14th, Novak‘s visa was canceled again and he was placed back in the immigration facility.

Novak recently addressed the controversy and clarified the timeline of his positive COVID-19 test results.

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Posted to: Novak Djokovic