Djokovic visa row: Second player loses visa over vaccine status

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The image caption is.

The vaccine exemption was granted to Renata Voracova.

The visa of a Czech tennis player has been canceled by Australia.

She is being held in the same hotel as Novak Djokovic, who is appealing the cancellation of his visa.

Many Australians were angered by the initial exemption from vaccine requirements.

The Czech government said that she entered Australia on a valid exemption. She contracted Covid-19 recently.

She will leave Australia and withdraw from the tournament.

The Australian government said on Friday that a foreign national can't travel to the country without being fully protected against the disease.

More than 90 percent of Australia's adult population has had at least two doses of the coronaviruses vaccine, but many still face restrictions as Covid case numbers rise.

The initial decision to grant a visa to Novak Djokovic caused anger amongst many Australians, who said that sports stars should be treated the same as everyone else. The Serbian star is against vaccines.

The Australian Open will be held in January.

There are a lot of emotions outside the hotel where Novak Djokovic is being kept. His supporters were there all night.

Some people wrote "stay strong" on the pavement. Others lit candles.

A woman told me that it was Christmas. He will be alone up there. It's a farce.

There are a lot of strands to this story. The anger. The politics. There is a visa. The world number one is here for tennis.

Fans of the Serbian tennis player are angry that he was allowed to come all the way to Australia only to be told he had to leave on a visa technicality.

Other Australians are angry that a world-class athlete who has been vocal about his vaccine opposition was granted an exemption, while their own politicians have urged them to get both jabs and the booster.

Both shades of anger are understandable and they have at least one thing in common: fury about how the authorities have handled this.

The state and federal governments have been at odds with Tennis Australia.

Politicians wanted to prove that they can control who comes in and out of the country but they lost control of the narrative.

It's an embarrassment for Australia, either way.