Djokovic free but Australia deportation threat lingers
- Novak Djokovic yesterday warmed up for his bid to win a record 21st Grand Slam title at next week’s Australian Open, hitting practice shots at Melbourne Park, but he still faces the threat of deportation. A week after his arrival in Australia, Djokovic
MELBOURNE, (Reuters) final decision soon.
“Uncertainty is not good for any of the stakeholders, neither Djokovic nor the Australian Open,” she said.
The ATP, the governing body of men’s tennis, applauded the court ruling, saying the dispute was “damaging on all fronts.”
Djokovic, who expressed his gratitude to the judge and his determination to compete at the first major of the year in a Twitter author post on Monday, did not publicly address the situation yesterday.
He was filmed by media helicopters practicing at Rod Laver Arena amid tight security at Melbourne Park. He was also confirmed as top seed for the event.
OPPOSITION TO VACCINATION Djokovic was detained when he landed at Melbourne airport last Wednesday. His visa was cancelled because he failed to provide appropriate evidence to meet entry requirements, border officials said.
However, in quashing that decision, Judge Anthony Kelly was critical of the hours-long airport interview and said the player had not been given enough time to contact lawyers and tennis officials to discuss his predicament.
Djokovic had been granted a medical exemption by the Victoria state government based on evidence he contracted COVID-19 last month - the second time he had been infected. The player, who has long opposed mandatory vaccination, confirmed during the interview he was unvaccinated.
Some Australian media reported that Australian Border Force was investigating potential discrepancies in the traveller form submitted by Djokovic and his whereabouts in the days before he arrived in Australia.
In the document submitted to court Djokovic ticked “no” when asked he had been overseas in the 14 days prior. Social media posts, however, appeared to show (Reuters) - Nigeria put behind their tumultuous build-up to the Africa Cup of Nations by beating Egypt yesterday with a display that sent out out an early warning to their rivals in Cameroon.
Kelechi Iheanacho struck a superb first half finish for a 1-0 victory at the start of Group D action in Garoua.
Nigeria had fired coach Gernot Rohr just weeks before the tournament, scraped through the recent World Cup qualifiers in unconvincing fashion and also lost key forward Victor Osimhen to injury. The Nigeria Football Federation also failed to send out call up letters in time for strikers Emmanuel Dennis and Odion Ighalo, whose clubs then refused to relaese them for the tournament in Cameroon.
But despite all the setbacks, Nigeria gave their supporters much to enthuse over with Tuesday’s showing.
In contrast, it was a disappointing day for the north African heavyweights.
Champions Algeria were held to a disappointing goalless draw in Group E by Sierra Leone, making their return to the finals for the first time since 1996.
Algeria had several chances but struggled with the heat in Douala and failed to break through a resolute defence, where former England international Steven him in Belgrade on Christmas Day and in Spain on Dec. 31.
In Madrid, Spain’s foreign minister said he had no information on whether Djokovic had visited Spain in December before travelling to Australia.
“We have not been contacted by the Australian government to request such documentation,” Minister Jose Manuel Albares also said.
The Australian Border Force did not reply to a request for comment. Djokovic’s lawyers at Hall & Wilcox declined to comment.
FAIREST DECISION, SAYS RAFA The Australian Open begins on Monday. Djokovic has won the tournament, one of four tennis Grand Slams, for the past three years and nine times in all.
Spain’s Rafa Nadal, who is tied on 20 majors with Djokovic and Switzerland’s Roger Federer, called the fraught build-up to the tournament a “circus” and said the “fairest decision” had been made.
Nick Kyrgios said while he supported vaccination he felt “embarrassed as an Australian athlete, seeing what this guy has done for us and the sport”.
However, former American player turned pundit Pam Shriver warned on Twitter the controversy may not be over: “If he plays the booing will be deafening.”
Melbourne resident Keith Moore told Reuters: “We’ve had to go through vaccination protocols and lockdowns for such a long time and he swans in and pretty much does what he likes because he’s the world best tennis player.”
Caulker was making his debut. He switched his international allegiance on the eve of the tournament.
Sierra Leone president Maadu Bio took to Twitter to express his delight.
“We are very proud of you, our Leone Stars,” he said.
Iheanacho, who is now Nigeria’s lead striker for the finals, crashed a half-volley from the edge of the box into the top corner after 30 minutes to settle the contest.
However, Nigeria should have added at least a couple more goals in what was the best performance by a team in the finals so far.
Egypt failed to shift out of first gear and could not get talisman forward Mohamed Salah into the game as he cut an isolated figure up front.
“The performance in the first-half was very poor, and that’s the truth, we weren’t on the pitch,” said Egypt coach Carlos Queiroz.
In Tuesday’s other Group D game, Guinea Bissau and Sudan played out a goalless draw.
Today, Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast meet in a Group E clash in Douala. In Group F, Mali take on Tunisia and then Gambia make their tournament debut against Mauritania.