Late on January 5, Novak Djokovic landed in Melbourne after a long flight. He had travelled to the city in order to participate in the Australian Open, one of the most prestigious tennis tournaments in the world, and one that he was widely favoured to win. Instead, Djokovic soon found himself detained at the airport by the Australian Border Force, in the midst of a soap-operatic legal battle, as a media circus raged outside. How did this come about?
At the centre of the biggest tennis controversy in recent times lie Australia’s stringent requirements for entry during pandemic times. Last November, Tennis Australia, the organizing body of the Australian Open, confirmed that all participating players would be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, in line with federal and state law and policy. This immediately cast doubt on Djokovic’s participation—Djokovic, who had repeatedly refused to divulge his vaccination status, had also once indicated that he was “opposed to vaccinations entirely.” He refused to confirm whether or not he would participate in the tournament, stating that he would “wait and see.”
On 3 January 2022, Djokovic finally confirmed his participation in the Australian Open—by saying that he was travelling to Australia using an exemption. This exemption permitted him to travel to Australia without either being vaccinated or serving a fourteen-day quarantine. This sparked immediate outrage in Australia, especially in Melbourne, which has seen some of the most stringent COVID-related lockdowns in the world. Exemptions were supposed to be few and far between, and many cast doubt over why an elite athlete would be allowed to receive one. Tennis Australia defended the decision, stating that Djokovic’s exemption had been granted by two independent medical panels organized by both themselves and the State of Victoria.
Upon his arrival in Melbourne, however, Djokovic found that the situation was not quite as uncomplicated as he might have thought. After being held in custody for over nine hours, he was informed that he did not, in fact, possess adequate legal documentation to enter Australia; in fact, the kind of exemption that he had received was not considered adequate according to federal law. His exemption was based on having contracted COVID-19 within the past six months; this was based on a communication that Tennis Australia had sent to him and all other players. However, this was not in line with federal policy, which restricts exemptions to a very narrow range of cases and does not consider prior infection within the past six months to constitute grounds for an exemption. The federal government had advised Tennis Australia that this was the case, however, Tennis Australia had failed to inform its players. As a result, Djokovic’s visa was cancelled and he was asked to leave the country. He chose to appeal the decision and was thereafter removed to the Park Hotel, a common holding spot for immigration detainees.
Djokovic’s family and team immediately cried foul, hosting a media conference where they denounced the decision as being motivated by “a political agenda” aimed at “stomping on Serbia.” His father, Srdjan Djokovic, compared him to Spartacus, and stated that the tennis star was being “persecuted,” while his mother alleged that he was being subjected to “torture and harassment.” Protestors, both in Belgrade and outside his Melbourne hotel, called for his release as #FreeNovak trended on Twitter.
Meanwhile, the ensuing media circus had prompted the Serbian government to get involved. The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, declared that Djokovic’s treatment at the hands of the Australian government amounted to maltreatment, and vowed that the government would work towards ensuring that his “harassment” was immediately brought to an end. The Australian ambassador in Belgrade was summoned to the Presidential office, and Djokovic’s immediate release demanded, which the Australian government dismissed as an infringement of their sovereignty. Vučić also requested that Djokovic be allowed to move out of the hotel where he was being held to private accommodation, a request which was again denied.
Tennis Australia came under fire as it became increasingly clear that they had misinformed players about the requirements for entry. Complicating matters was the fact that several other participants had both applied for, and had been granted entry, on the basis of a prior infection without being vaccinated. In fact, these persons had been within Australia’s borders for weeks. One of the players, Renata Voráčová, was subsequently detained at the same hotel where Djokovic was also lodged; two others chose to leave the country instead.
Another point of controversy surrounded the date of Djokovic’s prior infection. In his court documents, the tennis star claimed that he had received a positive RT-PCR test on 16 December 2021—thus well within the six-month deadline that he believed to be in effect. However, immediately after this announcement, photos of Djokovic unmasked at public, indoor events in the days following his diagnosis began circulating—including at an event attended by children and at a photoshoot by the publication L’Equipe.
Public opinion turned firmly against Djokovic and it appeared as though his deportation was imminent. However, he won a surprising legal victory—at a hearing to determine whether the cancellation of his visa was valid, the government unexpectedly withdrew its case after it emerged that there had been procedural irregularities in the cancellation. Djokovic’s visa was restored; he was allowed to leave immigration detention, and was free to participate in the tournament once again.
But the controversy surrounding his public appearances following his COVID diagnosis continued to rage. A few days later, Djokovic admitted to going out in public while COVID-positive. He claimed that while he had been unaware of his status at the time of attending an event with children, he was fully aware that he was COVID positive at the time he had gone to the interview. The journalists confirmed that Djokovic had taken off his mask during the photoshoot that followed and had neglected to inform them that he had the coronavirus at the time.
Immediate controversy followed, accompanied by renewed calls for Djokovic’s visa to be cancelled. After a lengthy wait, Alex Hawke, the Australian Minister for Immigration, announced on Friday that he would be cancelling Djokovic’s visa on “health and good order” grounds, arguing in part that the star’s behaviour had the potential to encourage anti-vaccine propaganda and protests in Australia. Djokovic’s appeal was denied; he was subsequently deported.
This is not the first time that the tennis star has been embroiled in COVID-related controversy. In the summer of 2020, he was responsible for organizing a charity tournament called the Adria Tour. Although ostensibly following government guidelines, media coverage revealed widespread flouting of social distancing rules in the tournament by players and fans alike, eventually resulting in a COVID outbreak that affected several players and attendees, including Djokovic. His refusal to openly support vaccination has also drawn criticism, especially when less than sixty per cent of the population in his home country of Serbia is vaccinated.
But this controversy already threatens to overshadow what was shaping up to be a historic Australian Open. Djokovic is currently tied at twenty Grand Slam titles with fellow tennis greats Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. The Australian Open, where he holds the records for men’s titles, would have been the ideal ground for him to break the tie. But it will be hard to undo the damage that the past few weeks have wreaked on his legacy. Djokovic has become a public face for anti-vaxxers and vaccine-skeptics worldwide: His time in Australian immigration detention has led to some strange bedfellows, including Nigel Farage and Ben Shapiro. His entry into the country under questionable circumstances, when many Australians were trapped overseas for months because of stringent entry rules, have made him deeply unpopular in the country. The cancellation of his visa means that he is barred from Australia for a period of three years (although government officials have indicated that they are open to overturning this). And future barriers await him—the French Sports ministry has now indicated that all participants at the French Open must be vaccinated. Whether or not Djokovic will be allowed to participate remains to be seen.