A court hearing is set for Monday to determine if No. 1 tennis player Novak Djokovic will be deported from Australia over his vaccination status.
Djokovic awaits the decision on his appeal in a Melbourne hotel used by Australian immigration officials for asylum seekers and refugees.
Djokovic could face a three-year ban from entering Australia!
Victoria state authorities granted Djokovic a medical exemption prior to his trip to Australia ahead of the Australian Open later this month.
Then, the medical exemption was rejected by the Australian Border Force when Djokovic arrived on Wednesday.
"Djokovic is unable to proceed through passport control after a member of his support team made a critical mistake in requesting a sub-class of visa that does not apply to those who have received medical exemptions from a Covid-19 vaccine. The error had been discovered by the Australian border force while Djokovic was already travelling on a 14-hour commercial flight from Dubai to Melbourne," The Times reports.
He spent the night trying to convince state authorities to accept his medical exemption but did not succeed.
Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt said Djokovic's visa was canceled after border officials examined "the integrity and the evidence behind" his medical exemption.
"The rule is very clear," Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said. "You need to have a medical exemption. He didn't have a valid medical exemption. We make the call at the border, and that's where it's enforced."
Djokovic is the defending champion of the Australian Open, has the most Australian Open titles (9), and the most consecutive Australian Open titles (3).
He is seeking his 21st Grand Slam singles title, which would be the most by any player in men's tennis history.
Oh, he's also already had Covid and is one of the healthiest people on the planet. But they're still banning him.
American-born No. 96 tennis player Tennys Sandgren, responded to the news of Djokovic, saying "Australia doesn't deserve to host a Grand Slam."
No. 6 tennis player Rafael Nadal responded to the news of Djokovic on Wednesday, calling it "a rough situation."
"I went through Covid. I have been vaccinated twice. If you do this you don't have any problem to play here. That's the only clear thing," Nadal said.
"The only clear thing is if you are vaccinated, you can play in the Australian Open and everywhere, and the world in my opinion has been suffering enough to not follow the rules."
During a warm-up event at Rod Laver Arena (center court venue of the Australian Open), event officials removed a sign from a fan that said "#NOVAX DJOKOVIC HOSTAGE OF THE COMMUNIST STATE OF DAN ANDREWS!"
The fan posted videos of his conversation with a security guard before handing over the sign.
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