Novak Djokovic has to leave Australia, it became clear today after the world number one in tennis appealed against the revocation of his visa, but lost in court. Thus, the hope of participating in the Australian Open evaporated.

The tennis player's visa was revoked by the Australian Minister of Emigration for the second time on the grounds that Djokovic's stay in the country would undermine Australia's efforts to fight the coronavirus.

The star did not provide proof of vaccination or the visa required by a valid medical exception. Instead, he entered Australia with documents that he had contracted COVID-19 in December 2021 and therefore has not been vaccinated. The latter has been questioned because Djokovic has not announced this so far, his program in Serbia and abroad was compressed in December and included a live interview with French media just after the alleged diagnosis. German IT experts expressed doubts that the positive result for COVID was falsified by analyzing the digital data for the test.

The Djokovic case has divided public opinion. On the one hand, the thesis is that the rules are for everyone and must be followed, whether they are stars with multimillion-dollar bills. This is supported by public opinion in Australia, where strict rules have been imposed since the beginning of the pandemic, lockdowns have been introduced even because of smaller nests of the disease, and borders have long been closed, leaving many families separated. On the other hand, there are anti-vaxxers, according to whom the case is exaggerated and the tennis player is a hero-martyr of the struggle for freedom.

The court's final decision comes a day before Djokovic's first match. The tournament organizers now have to change the scheme.