AUSTRALIA LOSES BID TO DELAY DJOKOVIC’S VISA APPEAL

A bid by the Australian government to delay Novak Djokovic’s appeal against deportation has been rejected by a judge overseeing his case.

The government had requested the tennis star’s court hearing be postponed until Wednesday, but it will instead begin as scheduled today morning.

Djokovic was denied entry to Australia after landing in Melbourne last week to defend his Australian Open title.

His case has caused a huge outcry and made headlines around the world.

The world number one men’s tennis player - who has said he is opposed to vaccination - is in an immigration detention centre as his lawyers prepare to appeal against a decision by Australia’s federal government to cancel his visa.

Djokovic, 34, had been granted a medical exemption to play in the Australian Open tournament in a decision that infuriated many ordinary Australians who have been living under some of the world’s strictest Covid rules.

On Saturday, Djokovic’s lawyers submitted a 35-page document arguing that their client fulfilled the criteria for a vaccine exemption certificate because of a recent Covid infection, which was confirmed by a PCR test on 16 December.

There had been no prior announcement of Djokovic’s Covid infection, and photos have since emerged of the player apparently attending events in the Serbian capital Belgrade maskless at around the time he tested positive.

It is unclear whether he knew he had Covid when the photos were taken. The Australian government has insisted that a recent Covid infection only offers an exemption for residents - and in its own submission to the court yesterday, government lawyers said the tennis star had been given no assurance a medical exemption would be accepted.