INSUFFICIENT REASON
“Australia has a policy of not allowing unvaccinated people into Australia. It is beyond my comprehension how we have got to this point,” Labor Party opposition leader Anthony Albanese said in an interview on Thursday.
“How is it that Novak Djokovic was able to come here?”
As COVID-19-related hospitalisations rise in Melbourne, the Victorian state government said Thursday it would cap capacity at the Australian Open at 50 per cent.
Spectators must be vaccinated or have a medical exemption.
Face masks will also be mandatory at the opening Grand Slam of the year except when eating or drinking, and those watching must socially distance while indoors.
The tournament starts on Monday.
Djokovic flew into Australia on Jan 5 claiming a vaccine exemption because of a positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test result on Dec 16.
Border agents rejected his exemption, saying that a recent infection was an insufficient reason, tore up his visa and placed him in a detention centre.
But the vaccine sceptic Djokovic’s high-powered legal team overturned the visa decision in court on Monday on a procedural matter related to his airport interview.
Djokovic described reports about his post-infection outings in Serbia as “misinformation” in an Instagram post on Wednesday.
On the day of his claimed positive test in Serbia, he appeared at a ceremony to honour him with stamps bearing his image. The following day, he attended a youth tennis event. He appeared at both apparently without a mask.
Djokovic said that he only received the PCR test result after attending the children’s tennis event on Dec 17.
But he admitted that he also went ahead with an interview with French sports daily L’Equipe on Dec 18.
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