Djokovic in limbo as lawyers fight Australia ban; mother says he is ‘prisoner’ in hotel

MELBOURNE, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Novak Djokovic faced at least 72 hours holed up in a Melbourne hotel for immigration detainees after he was denied entry into Australia on Thursday amid a political firestorm over his medical exemption https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/djokovic-willdefend-australian-open-title-after-exemption-vaccination-2022-01-04 from COVID-19 vaccination requirements. The tennis star, who is chasing a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam at the Australian Open, remained in the country after his lawyers launched an appeal https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/hearing-givesdjokovic-least-another-72-hours-melbourne-2022-0106 seeking to overturn the federal government decision. A court agreed not to deport him before a full hearing scheduled for Monday.

The saga, fuelled by domestic political point-scoring about the country’s handling of a record surge in new COVID-19 infections, has led to an international row, with Serbia’s president claiming his nation’s most celebrated sportsman was being harassed.

“They are keeping him as a prisoner,” Djokovic’s mother, Dijana, said at the family’s restaurant in Belgrade. “It’s not fair. It’s not human.”

She said she spoke to the champion on Thursday, and he was struggling to fall asleep. “His accommodation terrible. It’s just some small, immigration hotel, if it is a hotel at all. With bugs, it’s all dirty. The food is terrible.”

For more on this story, see: -How the night unfolded in a Melbourne airport -The hotel housing the world number one -Djokovic a victim of politics, says family

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison defended the decision to deny Djokovic entry at a televised news briefing.

“There are no special cases, rules are rules,” he said. “We will continue to make the right decisions when it comes to securing Australian borders in relation to this pandemic.”