Djokovic has left Australia, all the stages of the "Novax" story
From the positive interview to the false declaration at the airport, from the medical exemption to the farewell to the tournament in which he wanted to write the history of tennis
"Disappointed", Novak Djokovic has already left for Dubai after the court rejected his appeal against the cancellation of the visa to enter Australia.
The Serbian number 1 in the world ATP has been expelled from the Canberra government and will not be able to participate in the Australian Open, in his place the scoreboard enters the Italian lucky looser Salvatore Caruso.
A month on the roller coaster for the no vax tennis player, here are the stages of the story.
DECEMBER 14 - Nole participates in a basketball game in Belgrade in which several Covid positives emerge.
16 DECEMBER - The Serbian, asymptomatic, undergoes an antigenic swab and tested negative. For “greater prudence”, he will explain later, the molecular also does, to which instead it will be positive.
DECEMBER 17 - Djokovic meets in Belgrade and rewards a group of young tennis players, he will tell that he did not yet have the outcome of the molecular.
DECEMBER 18 - He gives a face-to-face interview to a reporter from the Equipe: later he will admit to being aware of his positivity, but he did not want to cancel the interview and reveal it to the reporter so as to "not disappoint him".
JANUARY 4 - Confirm that you are on your way to Australia with a medical exemption. The rules for participating in the Australian Open provide that participants must be vaccinated or exempted by experts.
JANUARY 6 - Visa canceled after questioning on arrival in Melbourne. The tennis player confirms that he is not vaccinated and is transferred to a detention center for immigrants. His lawyers are appealing.
JANUARY 10 - Nole wins the first set: despite the government rejecting the legal reasons according to which the tennis player was exempt from the vaccine because he had the virus, the judge orders his immediate release and revokes the cancellation of the visa.
January 11 - The Serbian returns to training as authorities investigate whether he has filed a false statement upon his arrival in Melbourne.
JANUARY 12 - Djokovic is forced to admit "errors" in travel documents, as he declared that he had not traveled in the previous 14 days while in reality he had gone to Spain from Belgrade. The Serbian also admits the error of the interview granted by positive and the government considers whether to cancel the visa again, the Minister of Immigration has the right.
JANUARY 13 - The first round of the Australian Open has been drawn, Djokovic against Kecmanovic but uncertainty remains about the participation of the Serbian.
January 14 - The government cancels the visa again, Nole's lawyers appeal and the ball goes to the Federal Court.
JANUARY 15 - Immigration Minister Alex Hawke justifies the revocation of the visa by arguing that Djokovic's presence "could fuel a no vax sentiment".
JANUARY 16 - Telenovela over, bad for Djokovic: the Court rejects the appeal and orders his expulsion. Nole leaves Australia after a few hours, the day before the start of what he intended to be his 21st Grand Slam triumph, which would allow him to overtake Federer and Nadal.
(Unioneonline / L)
