WTA ATP Aus Open 1/17 - 1/30 2022

[ti-amie]

[Suliso]

The other two were smarter and kept a low profile about it on social media.

[ti-amie]

And from the Daily Fail...



Huge twist as Scott Morrison accuses Novak Djokovic of trying to 'run the border' and reveals he did NOT have a vax exemption - but Alan Jones slams the 'police state' deportation
Scott Morrison has accused the Serbian world No.1 of trying to 'run the border'
Said tennis star had only himself to blame as he did not have a valid exemption
'People try to run the border all the time... they are put back on planes, he said...
'
By CHARLIE COË FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

PUBLISHED: 19:37 EST, 5 January 2022 | UPDATED: 22:10 EST, 5 January 2022

Scott Morrison has dramatically accused Novak Djokovic of trying to 'run the border' in an epic serve against the tennis star who has been refused entry into Australia.

The prime minister said the world No.1 only had himself to blame for his predicament because he didn't have a valid vaccine exemption to enter the country.

'I want to thank the Border Force officers for doing their job implementing the Government's policies, they have done their job, entry with a visa requires double vaccination, or a medical exemption,' Mr Morrison said.


'I am advised that such an exemption was not in place, and as a result he is subject to the same rule as anyone else.

'People try to run the border all the time. People come with a visa that may not satisfy other requirements for entry - and they are put back on planes and turned back all the time.'

'I also want to stress, that ultimately, this is the responsibility of the traveller. It is for the traveller to be able to assert and backup their ability to come into the country consistent with our laws.

(...)

Djokovic's team are understood to have applied for a type of visa that does not allow medical exemptions for the unvaccinated.

There are also believed to be issues with the controversial exemption itself, with questions about whether he has adequate proof to support it.

He is believed to have been issued an exemption on the grounds that he was infected with coronavirus in the past six months.

However, though this may satisfy his entry into the tournament and Victoria, the federal government controls the international border and his exemption appears to not hold up under federal rules.

Health Minister Greg Hunt on Thursday morning said the federal government was not involved in the decision to approve Djokovic's medical exemption.

The world No.1 and prominent Covid vaccine sceptic now faces a difficult legal fight to stay in the country and keep his Australian Open title fight alive.

Djokovic's lawyers are gearing up to fight the visa cancellation in court, though it is not clear if the star player will stay in Australia during the case.

'The ABF can confirm that Mr Djokovic failed to provide appropriate evidence to meet the entry requirements to Australia, and his visa has been subsequently cancelled.

'Non-citizens who do not hold a valid visa on entry or who have had their visa cancelled will be detained and removed from Australia.

'The ABF can confirm Mr Djokovic had access to his phone.​'

The world number one touched down on an Emirates flight from Dubai about 11.30pm Wednesday AEST, just 24 hours after he confirmed he would play in the Australian Open.

Two weeks out from the Grand Slam, it remains uncertain if Djokovic will lose the chance to defend his Australian Open Crown entirely.

A source familiar with the situation said the player's lawyers are in the process of contesting the decision made by Australian Border Force officials.

The Serbian star was not allowed through passport control, and endured several hours of discussions with Border Force officials.

(...)

Djokovic's declaration to the world that he was on his way to Australia sparked an outpouring of anger on a day the nation recorded a record 64,770 new Covid cases.

Border Force officials learned while Djokovic was in the air that he would be trying to enter the country on a visa that doesn't permit medical exemptions for being unvaccinated, sources said.

As a result, the federal government contacted Victorian officials late on Wednesday night to ask it to formally help facilitate his entry into the country - but this was rejected.

Acting sports minister Jaala Pulford confirmed the state government would not support the application.

'The Federal Government has asked if we will support Novak Djokovic's visa application to enter Australia,' Ms Pulford tweeted at 11.14pm.

'We will not be providing Novak Djokovic with individual visa application support to participate in the 2022 Australian Open Grand Slam.

'We've always been clear on two points: visa approvals are a matter for the Federal Government, and medical exemptions a matter for doctors.'

The Victorian Government was asked to support his application because the state government works with Tennis Australia to run the Open, the event that his visa would allow him to work at.

The federal government therefore wanted Victoria to formally back his entry, something the state government quickly claimed was not in their jurisdiction.

It was revealed hours earlier the Acting Australian Border Force Commissioner was examining an 'issue' with Djokovic's Australian Travel Declaration as the prime minister warned the tennis star will receive no special treatment.

'If that evidence is insufficient, then he will be treated no different to anyone else and he'll be on the next plane home,' Mr Morrison said.

Later it emerged there were also issues with the exemption itself, and not just that he had arrived on the wrong visa.

Tennis great Rod Laver, after whom centre court at the Australian Open is named, called on Djokovic to 'own up' to the reason for his exemption or face hostility from spectators.

'If he's got a reason for (the exemption) then... we should know it,' the 11-time grand slam winner told News Corp.

'Yes, you're a great player and you've performed and won so many tournaments, so, it can't be physical. So what is the problem?'

If he doesn't, Djokovic should expect hostility from fans every time he walks onto the court in a city which has spent than 260 days in lockdown since early 2020.

'I think it might get ugly,' Laver said.

'I would think the Victorian people would be thinking ''yes I would love to see him play and compete but at the same time, there's a right way and a wrong way'.'

Everyone entering Australia - even its own citizens - must be fully-vaccinated against Covid or face two weeks in hotel quarantine.

My view is that any individual seeking to enter Australia must comply with our border requirements,' Mr Morrison said on Wednesday afternoon.

'Now Novak Djokovic, when he arrives in Australia, he has to if he's not vaccinated, must provide acceptable proof that he cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons to be able to access the same travel arrangements as fully-vaccinated travellers.

'So we await his presentation and what evidence he provides us to support that.

'If that evidence is insufficient, then he will be treated no different to anyone else and he'll be on the next plane home.

'There should be no special rules for Novak Djokovic at all. None whatsoever.'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... mailonline

[ti-amie]

The other two were smarter and kept a low profile about it on social media.

Yes but now they can possibly be kicked out.

[mick1303]

Novax's dad is truly unique. When he gets named, by Novax, Minister of the Interior in Serbia, there will be some real, unsavory changes.
(I am still banking on Novax becoming president of Serbia by age 45, with no prior experience on anything other than hitting a fluffy yellow ball).

He will join an illustrious list of people with zero governing experience becoming high=level politicians. Arnold was governor of California, and I think California's economy is bigger than Serbia's. Then there was Reagan. And Trump. (insert barf emoji here). In the 80's Italy had a porn actor in their parliament. I'm sure there are others. It's bizarre, isn't it, that people conflate a very specific skill set and fame with ability to work in a government.

Kevin

Nikolay Valuev is in a Russian parliament. Vitaliy Klichko is a mayor of Ukrainian capital city of Kiev. Manny Pacquiao is a senator in his homecountry - Phillippines. All these people were professional boxers and therefore were repeatedly hit in the head. Comparing to this Novak would do just fine ))

[dmforever]

I'm still trying to understand the details of what happened in Australia. So Novax applied for a visa, and the state government gave him the visa. Is that right? How does that even happen? I've never heard of anything abut a national government being in charge of visas. Or did people in the state government erroneously tell him that he would get it? Is it even known exactly what happened?

Thanks for your help.

Kevin

I think the state govt gave him the medical exemption. I assume all visas are federally issued. But here's what my friend said about working for the State Department in foreign countries:

"A visa is never a guarantee to enter a country. When i was an FSO, plenty of people we gave visas to got turned around at the border. Happens when they sense a traveler is shady in one way or another. ... I got to spend two days watching the Customs/Border Patrol people question/interrogate people at Dulles airport, both in the primary booth and the secondary inspection room, where they interrogate people who are suspect. It was super interesting. At least in the U.S., they have a pretty high degree of autonomy with ordinary travelers but not with a super VIP like Djokovic. No way was that just one person's decision at the airport, or one person plus their supervisor. He was detained for more than 8 hours. During that time, the decision was obviously floated up the food chain. Who knows how high."

That autonomy is both a good thing and a very bad thing. People with visas are who are not "shady" get turned away all the time because immigration officials overstep their power. And the port of entry matters. Immigration attorneys often advise their non shady, totally legitimate clients which US cities to fly in and out of. If you have never had to consider this, be thankful. It's very very stressful even in the best of cases.

In this case, Novak was obviously not a risk to stay in Australia. I am/was a huge Nole fan. HIs vaccination stance, as well as other idiotic scientific ideas, is the reason for that "'/was". He probably never should have been issued the visa in the first place. But I do wonder, even though I'm fine with the outcome, how fairly he was treated, or if they just wanted to make an example of him. He should definitely not have posted anything on social media. He might be playing if he hadn't.

Kevin

[ponchi101]

I worked at the US embassy for 5 years, and had friends in the visa area. A visa for the USA IS NEVER FINAL. As a matter of fact, CBP officers in the USA have the discretionary absolute power to stop you at your port of entry and reject entry, FOR NO REASON AT ALL. It is discretionary, in the real sense of the word.
Just an example. And rest assured that almost all countries work in the same way. Totally senseless and not fair, but that is the way it works.

[Suliso]

It doesn't happen very often, though. I bet they do have internal rules about this kind of stuff.

[dmforever]

It doesn't happen very often, though. I bet they do have internal rules about this kind of stuff.

If "it" means people with valid visas being denied entrance to the US, then I guess we'd have to define "very often" to know if we agree or not. I'm guessing that it happens way more than most people think it does.

As Ponchi says, it's up to each officer's discretion. It's a lot of power in one person's hands. Talk to an immigration attorney and you will hear stories. People with a multiple entry visa who never overstay or come more frequently than their visa allows are often denied entrance just because the officer thinks that may overstay at some point.

Kevin

[ti-amie]

[ponchi101]

It doesn't happen very often, though. I bet they do have internal rules about this kind of stuff.

If "it" means people with valid visas being denied entrance to the US, then I guess we'd have to define "very often" to know if we agree or not. I'm guessing that it happens way more than most people think it does.

As Ponchi says, it's up to each officer's discretion. It's a lot of power in one person's hands. Talk to an immigration attorney and you will hear stories. People with a multiple entry visa who never overstay or come more frequently than their visa allows are often denied entrance just because the officer thinks that may overstay at some point.

Kevin

Story. My friend Adriana went for a visa RENEWAL. Around 1992, when I was working for USDA. Adriana was loaded with money, traveled to Miami as I would go to the beach, had never any intentions to overstay her visas (had never done so) but the problem was that she was absolutely beautiful. She reached the window for consular services, the guy took one look at her and voided her application, not one single question asked.
I gather he figured she could find a husband in Miami in less than a week.

[ti-amie]

Some were saying this was an old picture but here's a better picture of the facility where he's being held. The picture on the left is the one the Daily Fail used.

[dmforever]

It doesn't happen very often, though. I bet they do have internal rules about this kind of stuff.

If "it" means people with valid visas being denied entrance to the US, then I guess we'd have to define "very often" to know if we agree or not. I'm guessing that it happens way more than most people think it does.

As Ponchi says, it's up to each officer's discretion. It's a lot of power in one person's hands. Talk to an immigration attorney and you will hear stories. People with a multiple entry visa who never overstay or come more frequently than their visa allows are often denied entrance just because the officer thinks that may overstay at some point.

Kevin

Story. My friend Adriana went for a visa RENEWAL. Around 1992, when I was working for USDA. Adriana was loaded with money, traveled to Miami as I would go to the beach, had never any intentions to overstay her visas (had never done so) but the problem was that she was absolutely beautiful. She reached the window for consular services, the guy took one look at her and voided her application, not one single question asked.
I gather he figured she could find a husband in Miami in less than a week.

Yes, I was only talking about US Border officers. Consular officers are much worse. When I was living in Colombia, I knew a ton of people who applied for tourist or student visas for the US. Their visas would be approved, or not, seemingly haphazardly, just like what happened to Adriana.

Kevin

[mick1303]

Clive James ... "the problem with Australians is not that so many of them are descend from convicts, but that so many of them are descended from prison officers".

[ponchi101]

Clive James ... "the problem with Australians is not that so many of them are descend from convicts, but that so many of them are descended from prison officers".