Novak Djokovic could be banned from re-entering Australia for up to three years after his visa was rejected.
Djokovic is about to face legal battle to stay in the country and being deported after he was detained at Melbourne Airport on Wednesday night.
Upon arriving in Melbourne, the world No. 1 who has refused to confirm his vaccination status, was claimed to have ‘failed to provide appropriate evidence to meet the entry requirements’.
The Serb star wil spend the weekend in a detention hotel since his court hearing was adjourned until 10am Monday local time.
The Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison has defended the visa cancellation. He wrote on Twitter."He’ll stay there until either he is granted a visa or removed from the country, and that will depend on the application he makes to the Federal Court," Professor Crock told NCA NewsWire.
"His visa will have been cancelled either on the basis that he didn’t meet the entry requirements, or he made some false statement.
"He doesn’t have the right to appeal on the merits of anything – he can’t say ‘I’m the best tennis player, let me in’.
"He has to show the cancellation of his visa was done in a legal error. There’s a lot of politics playing both ways with this.
"Conversely, if you apply for the wrong visa, the discretion to be granted another visa at the point of entry is very limited.
"And if a visa has been cancelled, the consequences of that are very long term – both for Australia and any other country he enters, because you are always asked ‘have you been deported or excluded?’.
"If he’s deported from Australia, there’s a potential he could be excluded for three years."
"Mr Djokovic’s visa has been cancelled. Rules are rules, especially when it comes to our borders. No one is above these rules. Our strong border policies have been critical to Australia having one of the lowest death rates in the world from COVID, we are continuing to be vigilant."