Judging by the latest comments by Serbian president of parliament Ivica Dacic, the drama revolving around tennis world No. 1 Novak Djokovic and his visa issues may be far from over.
Dacic on Monday said he expects Australian authorities to deport the star on Tuesday, meaning he won’t be permitted to enter the country for the next three years. Dacic is a former Serbia prime minister and part of the country’s Socialist ruling coalition. He added that the unsavoury incident is bound to leaving a lasting impression on diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The former PM said while every country and state remains well within its discretionary rights to either allow or refuse entry to any individual, a prominent person like Djokovic is rarely seen shown the door. He said this made Australia’s behaviour to be even more “shameful”.
Djokovic remains a heavily polarising figure. While some have applauded the star for taking a stand for what he seems to believe in, others want to see him brought to task for blatantly ignoring health and safety regulations by appearing in public without a mask after testing positive.
The Serb’s fate now rests with immigration minister Alex Hawke, who is expected to hand down his decision on whether the world No. 1 gets to compete in this year’s Australian Open, on Tuesday.
Djokovic’s mother has in the meantime claimed during a press conference in Belgrade that her son had been subjected to “torture” following his arrival in Australia.
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