Tennis champion Novak Djokovic was detained in Australia for his decision not be vaccinated. Today, after days of tension, he was released. But his chance to play in the Australian Open may still be in jeopardy ...
Here's a timeline of Djokovic's Australian Open controversy..
Here's a timeline of Djokovic's Australian Open controversy..
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00:00This was tennis star Novak Djokovic greeting his fans from a hotel room in Australia,
00:04where he was detained for five days after entering the country without being vaccinated.
00:19The Serbian player was released on Monday, January 10th,
00:22but he could still be kicked out of the country.
00:30It all started when he posted this picture to Twitter on January 4th.
00:35In the caption, he stated that he obtained a medical exemption,
00:38allowing him to compete in the Australian Open, despite being unvaccinated.
00:42The news came as a surprise to many,
00:44since Djokovic has publicly opposed COVID vaccines throughout the pandemic.
00:48They talk about a mandatory vaccination,
00:51whether it will be, when it will be,
00:53they say that the vaccine will come in 18 months.
01:18In fact, Melbourne has spent more time under lockdown than any other city in the world.
01:49I don't know that the majority of people would be all that happy with
01:52somebody who is potentially putting others at risk.
01:55The story took a political turn when Australia's Prime Minister,
01:58Scott Morrison, spoke out on the subject.
02:01If he's not vaccinated, he must provide acceptable proof
02:04that he cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.
02:06So we await his presentation and what evidence he provides to support that.
02:11If that evidence is insufficient,
02:13then he won't be treated any different to anyone else and he'll be on the next plane home.
02:17So there should be no special rules for Novak Djokovic at all.
02:22At the airport, Djokovic was denied entry to Australia.
02:25His cell phone was confiscated and he was placed in isolation
02:28while the authorities reviewed his case.
02:30As a mother, what can I say?
02:32If you're a mother, you can just imagine how can I feel?
02:35I feel terrible since yesterday that they are keeping him as a prisoner.
02:41It's just not fair.
02:42It's not human.
02:47Our Novak, our pride.
02:51Novak is Serbia, and Serbia is Novak.
02:55They support Novak, and they support Serbia and the Serbian people.
03:09The Serbian president called the situation harassment
03:12and stated that Serbia will fight for Novak Djokovic for justice and truth.
03:17After several hours, health authorities declared that Djokovic
03:20had failed to provide adequate evidence to support his case.
03:23Rules are rules.
03:24It's what I said yesterday, but it was the right decision.
03:27And we will continue to make the right decisions
03:30when it comes to securing Australia's borders.
03:32And if you have a visa and you're double vaccinated,
03:34well, you're very, very welcome to come.
03:36We just saw that he posted a photo from Broadlabour Arena
03:42and obviously he's ready to go.
03:45We've been defending him every possible way we could
03:49because we know he's a truthful and rightful guy
03:52and he will never do anything to cross any federal or state law anywhere in the world.
03:59However, on January 10th, an Australian judge ordered his release
04:03and Djokovic immediately hit the tennis court.
04:05The Australian immigration minister can still cancel his visa,
04:09which would lead to a three-year ban from entering the country.
04:15So, we're going to have to wait and see what happens.
04:17We're going to have to wait and see what happens.
04:19We're going to have to wait and see what happens.
04:21We're going to have to wait and see what happens.
04:23We're going to have to wait and see what happens.
04:25We're going to have to wait and see what happens.
04:27We're going to have to wait and see what happens.
04:29We're going to have to wait and see what happens.
04:31We're going to have to wait and see what happens.
04:33We're going to have to wait and see what happens.
04:35We're going to have to wait and see what happens.
04:37We're going to have to wait and see what happens.
04:39We're going to have to wait and see what happens.
04:41We're going to have to wait and see what happens.