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Australia send Djokovic home - 19th January 2022
The 2022 Australian Open is going on. But Novak Djokovic isn't playing. He is the number one male tennis player.
Djokovic is from Serbia. He arrived in Australia on 5th January. Australia has very strict Covid-19 laws. They want every visitor vaccinated. But Djokovic was not vaccinated.
He said he had Covid-19 in December. So, he couldn't get a vaccine. But 10 days before visiting Australia, he travelled to other countries. At the airport, he didn't tell them this. The immigration minister, Alex Hawke, took away his visa.
Djokovic went to court in Australia. The court told him he could play his tennis matches.
But the government wasn't happy with this. They went to court again. This time, the court said Djokovic couldn't stay in Australia.
They didn't want more anti-vaccine protests. But tennis fans are focused on the games.
Sarah Wals: "I think it's just better for everyone and people can focus on the tennis now, not on unvaccinated players."
But people think both Djokovic and the government made mistakes.
Tom Crvenkovic: "Did he [Djokovic] embarrass Australia? We stuffed up too. We didn’t handle it perfectly. I think both sides are to blame."
Djokovic wanted to break the world record. He wanted to win his 21st Grand Slam. Now, he can't travel to Australia for three years.
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