Ultimately, it is a mess. Even now, close to a week on. We are little nearer to knowing whether Novak Djokovic will still be in the draw come Monday. Little nearer to finding out whether he will be detained, deported or defending his title.
It is an avoidable, unedifying mess. Australia did not want him in Melbourne, and should have made that clear a long time ago. Instead the hosts granted him a visa and, almost immediately, regretted it. So now, here we are again. Back in blacked out vans, back to Melbourne’s Federal Circuit and Family Court, in front of Justice O’Callaghan, with more legal argument to come.
But not back in the Australian Open. Not yet. For now, Djokovic’s visa remains cancelled and Alex Hawke, Immigration Minister, hopes to have succeeded where many opponents have failed in expelling Djokovic from the first Grand Slam of the year.
Novak Djokovic could be detained, deported or defending his Australian Open title next week
Djokovic had his visa revoked again on Friday and will spend the weekend in detention centre
There was an interview scheduled for 8am Saturday in Melbourne, and further court proceedings slated for 9am Sunday. As ever, Djokovic will not depart without a fight. Yet not even his expensively assembled legal team headed up by Nick Wood SC can guarantee victory this time.
Australia grants close to absolute power to its Immigration Minister and the amount of time Hawke spent reaching the decision to revoke Djokovic’s visa, suggests a man ensuring the dotting and crossing of every I and T. Not to mention the even greater care taken over each F and O.
Yet if Djokovic is doomed in his battle against unflinching state power, do not forget who brought us here. Djokovic wanted to play in Australia but he did not want to play by Australia’s rules. He was a truth seeker, who did not seem entirely married to the truth. And he was on a quest for justice, and the good of society, while reserving the right to behave as he damn well pleased.
So while it has not been a great week for governance, from the borders to the ministry, it has been worse for the world’s finest tennis player and self-appointed champion of the unvaccinated masses.
The World No 1 is determined to not give up is Australian Open chances without a fight
What Djokovic hoped would be viewed as a principled stand disintegrated as so much of his case for entry crumbled. He made public appearances when he should have been in quarantine, his application said he had not travelled when he had, even his positive test contained confusing anomalies, on analysis. The QR code read negative sometimes, positive others.
There seemed to be confusion over dates. Djokovic went from appearing an innocent victim of Australia’s cold, faceless immigration system, to a visitor who was looking to game it. Playing on his fame, to gain special treatment. And that is a terrible look, to the majority.
‘What more could this man have done?’ implored a sympathetic Justice Kelly, at the start of the week. Plenty, it transpires. He could have stayed home, when he tested positive. He could have worn a mask. He could have taken responsibility for filling in, or at least overseeing, his immigration forms so no convenient whereabouts errors were made.
Most of all, like 97 per cent of his contemporaries, he could have got vaccinated as Australia requires, or stayed away, as several have. He chose another path and it is one that has led us to here.
Djokovic had the choice between getting vaccinated or staying away from Australia (pictured: the Serbian boarding his flight to Melbourne earlier this month)
The government’s mistake was not
