Serbia’s Novak Djokovic celebrates after winning against Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas during their men’s singles second round tennis match on Day 5 of The Roland Garros 2021 French Open tennis tournament in Paris on June 3, 2021. (AFP/Martin Bureau )
T
ennis world number one Novak Djokovic said in a legal challenge on Saturday to being refused entry to Australia that he had been given medical exemption from vaccination against COVID-19 because he had contracted the illness last month.
In a court filing ahead of a hearing on Monday over his visa cancellation Djokovic said he had received the exemption from tournament organiser Tennis Australia, with a follow-up letter from the Department of Home Affairs saying he was allowed into the country.
The Serbian player, hoping to win his 21st Grand Slam at the Australian Open later this month, is on his third day in immigration detention in Melbourne – a case that has caused a sporting, political and diplomatic furore.
A vocal opponent of vaccine mandates, Djokovic has been confined since Thursday in a modest hotel after his visa was cancelled due to problems with the medical exemption from the country's immigration requirement for coronavirus vaccination that he presented.
The drama has caused tensions between Serbia and Australia and has also become a flashpoint for opponents of vaccine mandates around the world.
"I explained that I had been recently infected with COVID in December 2021 and on this basis I was entitled to a medical exemption in accordance with Australian Government rules and guidance," Djokovic said in the filing about his experience being detained at Melbourne Airport.
Djokovic said he told Australian Border Force officers that "I had correctly made my Australian Travel Declaration and otherwise satisfied all necessary requirements in order to lawfully enter Australia on my visa".