Australian federal court upholds cancellation of Djokovic's Australian visa

Australian federal court upholds cancellation of Djokovic's Australian visa
Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic (Photo/US Open Tennis Twitter) Image Credit: ANI
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An Australian court upheld a government decision to cancel Novak Djokovic's visa on Sunday, ending the unvaccinated tennis superstar's hopes of winning the Australian Open and racking up a record-breaking 21 men's Grand Slam titles. Ruling on a case that has gripped Australia and the sporting world for more than a week, a three-judge bench of the Federal Court heard government lawyers arguments that Djokovic's continued presence risked whipping up anti-vaccination sentiment during Australia's worst outbreak of COVID-19 since the pandemic began.

A medical exemption that allowed the Serbian tennis world number one to enter the country without being vaccinated had sparked fury in Australia, and became a political issue for Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who has to call a federal election before May.

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