The Serbian popular tennis star Novak Djokovic will be granted a visa to play in Australian Open 2023. The news was first reported by Australian newspaper and state broadcaster Guardian and ABC respectively.
Novak Djokovic has been granted a visa to play in the Australian Open in January, Guardian Australia and state broadcaster ABC reported on Tuesday: Reuters
— ANI (@ANI) November 15, 2022
(File photo) pic.twitter.com/bw5L14mdSq
Early this year, a three-year ban was imposed on the tennis star player Novak Djokovic for being unvaccinated and was also deported from the land for not abiding by the COVID-19 protocols. He even lost the appeal in courts while he was chasing the tenth Australian title.
Australia has cleared the way for Novak Djokovic to compete at the upcoming Australian Open, lifting a three-year ban from the country that was imposed in January when he was deported over his failure to be vaccinated against Covid.https://t.co/1YNAtyO1zV
— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 15, 2022
Look at what the government stated about their COVID Rules and how a international visitor must be vaccinated regardless of whoever he/she may be.
“COVID Diagnosis did not justify his medical exemption”
What was then, he was barred from entering the country for three years which means till 2025.
But Thanks to the newly elected Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, whose intervention and discretion resulted in overturning the three-year ban from Djokovic, allowing him to play. This year in August, the Australian government already scrapped the rule that disallowed foreign travelers to declare their COVID-19 vaccination status. For which Djokovic said in October that the move taken by the Australian government gave him some kind of positive signs.
In reaction to what good news the Serbian start was waiting for, still there were some from the opposition government who didn’t welcome the move calling it a “Slap on the face” of the Australian people.
“It would be a slap in the face for those people in Australia who did the right thing, got vaccinated, did everything they needed to do, if all of a sudden Novak Djokovic is allowed back into the country simply because he is a high-ranking tennis player with many millions of dollars,”
There is one thing we should not forget that during the time and even still, the then Australian Minister Scott Morrison, strongly condemned the entry of the player into the country and top of that also wanted to send a message to the Russian government for their invasion in Ukraine.
But now, once the tables have turned and Scott Morrission isn’t the prime minister anymore, the newly elected Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, now wants to give a message to the whole world with his move that they are again open to the world and have the power to overturn any injustice made. Which in this case was the famous Novak Djokovic.
So, from all the drama we see, we notice the whole story is motivated by political indifferences over others and how to use people from nowhere as their punching bag until the problem is resolved.
After overturning the judgment and lifting up the ban against Novak Djokovic, the Australian government has declined to make any kind of statement but now when the champ has got the platform again, he will be hoping to win the Australian open in 2023 and match the records with his opponent Rafael Nadal who has 22 grand Slam titles under his name.
