Djokovic ‘to sue the Australian government for £3m’ over deportation
Djokovic had originally been granted a medical exemption to participate in the Australian Open
Tennis legend Novak Djokovic is said to be in talks with lawyers to sue the Australian government for more than £3 million over “ill-treatment”.
The unvaccinated tennis star was ejected from the country on Sunday, on the eve of the Australian Open, after his last-ditch bid to overturn a government deportation order was rejected by judges.
According to The Sun, the world No 1 is now seeking damages worth $6 million (about £3.2 million), including $4.35m in prize money he expected to have won.
A source close to his agent, Edoardo Artaldi, said: “It’s well known that Novak and his family feel he was poorly treated in the quarantine hotel in Melbourne. His mother revealed how it was full of fleas and maggots. He was a virtual prisoner.”
It is also believed that Djokovic faces a ban from locker rooms at all ATP tournaments for as long as he is unvaccinated, even if manages to enter events.
In a document circulated for lower-tier events in Italy, it was stipulated that unvaccinated players “will not be allowed to use any tournament facilities (locker rooms, gym, on-site cafes, etc), restaurants or hotels” and the Daily Mail reported that those measures are expected to be rolled out across the tour.
The latest twists in the Djokovic visa saga came as it emerged that Australian federal court judges believed the 34-year-old would have posed a threat to “young and impressionable” Australians if he was allowed to remain in the country and compete for a record 21st grand-slam men’s singles title.
Djokovic had originally been granted a medical exemption to participate in the Australian Open on the grounds that he had contracted Covid-19 last month, but he was detained by border-force officials and held in an immigration detention centre used to house asylum seekers.
The Serbian’s legal team on Sunday failed to persuade federal court judges to overturn a deportation order made by the immigration minister, Alex Hawke, that his visa be revoked on “health and good order grounds”.
The reasons for the judges’ decision have been revealed in papers released by the Federal and Family Court of Australia.
The 31-page document shows that the three justices — James Allsop, Anthony Besanko and David O’Callaghan — unanimously agreed with the central point put forward by the immigration minister. This was that allowing Djokovic to remain in Australia would inspire anti-vax protests, and threaten public health as a result.
Djokovic’s lawyers had argued that this was “patently irrational” and that — if anything — ejecting the unvaccinated player from the country was just as likely to incite anti-vax protests.
