Australia’s government cancelled Novak Djokovic‘s visa for a second time Friday as it sought to deport the tennis superstar after he arrived in the country without a Covid-19 vaccine. Immigration Minister Alex Hawke said he acted on “health and good order grounds on the basis that it was in the public interest to do so”. Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government “is firmly committed to protecting Australia’s borders, particularly in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Hawke said in a statement. The cancellation effectively means Djokovic would be barred from a new Australian visa for three years, except under certain circumstances.
The visa decision put the Serbian world number one’s dream of a 10th Australian Open title and a record 21st Grand Slam in peril.
Djokovic is the tournament’s top seed and had been practising on the Melbourne Park courts a few hours earlier.
