Father claims Djokovic is ‘a prisoner’

Novak Djokovic has effectively been imprisoned in the row over a Covid19 medical exemption, his father has claimed.

The 34-year-old is being detained at the Park Hotel in Melbourne while awaiting the outcome of an appeal against the decision by the Australian Border Force (ABF) to cancel his entry visa and deport him.

Djokovic, who has spoken about his opposition to vaccination, said he had received “exemption permission” to enter the country, but the ABF refused to let him in, saying he had failed to provide evidence to justify the exemption.

Serbia’s president Aleksandar Vucic said Djokovic was the victim of “political persecution” by the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and others in the country’s government.

Djokovic’s father Srdjan said: “Novak and his team filed the same documents as 25 other tennis players (who received exemptions), and they didn’t have any problems.”

He added: “Our pride is a prisoner of these idiots.

“Shame on them. The whole free world, together with Serbia, should rise.

“Novak didn’t break any laws, just as seven billion people didn’t break any laws, they want to subdue us and for us all to be on our knees.”

Prime Minister Morrison said Djokovic’s public statement about the exemption had drawn him to the attention of the ABF.

“One of the things that the Border Force does is act on intelligence to direct their attention to potential arrivals,” he said.

“When you get people making public statements about what they say they have and what they are going to do and what their claims are, they draw significant attention to themselves.

“Anyone who does that, whether they’re a celebrity, a politician, a tennis player, a journalist, whoever does that, they can expect to be asked questions.”

Djokovic’s rival, Rafael Nadal, had little sympathy for the Serbian.

“I have been vaccinated twice. If you do this, you don’t have any problem playing here,” the Spaniard said yesterday.

“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 not to follow the rules.

“There are rules, and if you don’t want to get the vaccine, then you can have some troubles.

“I think if he wanted, he would be playing here in Australia without a problem.

“He made his own decisions, and everybody is free to make their own decisions, but then there are some consequences.

“Of course I don’t like the situation that is happening.

“In some way I feel sorry for him.

“But at the same time, he knew the conditions months ago, so he makes his own decision.”

PROTEST: Supporters gather outside the Park Hotel where Djokovic is being detained.