A Netflix documentary has already been announced to follow the drama over Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic’s visa mess in Australia — which culminated in his deportation before he could compete in the Australian Open — according to the Mirror.
A camera crew was dispatched to Australia to begin chronicling the action around the top-seeded player’s dealings with Australia’s immigration authorities as he attempted to be admitted into the country for the tournament.
Djokovic, the top-ranked Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) player and tied for winningest Grand Slam competitor in history, has been in and out several times already as Australia’s immigration officials accuse him of various violations of its coronavirus restrictions. He was initially denied entry and housed at a detention hotel after authorities claimed he gave false information on his entry forms. On Tuesday, an Australian judge reversed the revoked visa, and tennis authorities granted him number one ranking in the Open. But on Sunday, he was ordered to leave the country and flew to Dubai as the first step on his route home to Europe.
Djokovic has been the focus of Australian pandemic politics for weeks as tournament organizers weighed the possibility that the player would be barred from entering the country. He announced last week that he had received a medical exemption from Australia’s vaccine product mandate and then he flew to Melbourne. But upon landing, Border Force authorities immediately arrested him and tossed him into a migrant detention facility.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion has been accused of making a false declaration on his travel documents, a crime that could result in a five-year prison term.
Djokovic also admitted to breaking the required isolation period to do an interview two days after testing positive on December 16. He did note that he conducted the interview masked and socially distanced from the journalist.
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