Tennis legend Novak Djokovic said Monday he still deals with “trauma” three years after being kicked out of Australia over his refusal to get vaccinated against Covid-19.
Djokovic arrived in Melbourne in January 2022 to compete in the Australian Open but was stopped at the airport and held in hotel detention after he failed to produce evidence he had been vaccinated or had been issued a valid medical exemption, a requirement for anyone entering Australia at the time.
The Serbian player launched a legal fight to be allowed to stay, but his visa was eventually canceled on “health and good order grounds,” leading to his deportation.
“The last couple of times that I landed in Australia, to go through passport control and immigration — I had a bit of trauma from three years ago,” Djokovic told Australian media.
“Some traces still stay there when I’m passing passport control, just checking out if someone from [the] immigration zone is approaching. The person checking my passport — are they going to take me, detain me again or let me go?” he added. “I must admit I have that feeling.”
Australia had some of the world’s strictest measures to contains the pandemic, including vaccine mandates and lengthy lockdowns. For a time the country had one of the lowest Covid-19 mortality rates in the developed world, according to an Imperial College London study.
Defending the decision to deport the repeat Australian Open winner, former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison described Djokovic as “someone who sought to come to Australia and not comply with the entry rules at our border.”
Djokovic’s ordeal sparked a diplomatic row between Australia and Serbia, with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić blasting Australia for “harassing” Djokovic and offending “an entire nation.”
A year after his deportation, Djokovic returned to the country in 2023 to win the Australian Open for the 10th time, a vindication he celebrated as “the biggest victory in my life.”
The post Novak Djokovic says he’s still traumatized from Australia deportation saga appeared first on Politico.
