Novak Djokovic: Judge orders immediate release of tennis star

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The image caption is.

The supporters of Novak Djokovic are protesting outside the courthouse.

The judge hearing the challenge to the Australian government's revocation of Novak Djokovic's visa has overturned the decision.

The tennis star was ordered to be released by Judge Anthony Kelly and the government was told to pay his costs.

The Serbian player flew into Melbourne last week to defend his Australian Open title.

Alex Hawke could still cancel his visa on new grounds.

The government acknowledged in court that it wasn't given enough time to respond to the visa cancellation notification.

The Border Force made the final decision shortly after 07:30 after the player was told he had until Thursday to make comments.

If authorities had stuck to the original time, the Judge said, the visa could have been withdrawn.

Judge Kelly said that they all play by the same rules. Those rules were not observed.

Technical issues with a live stream of proceedings caused delays in the trial.

Lawyers for the 20-time Grand Slam winner argued that his exemption from restrictions requiring travellers to be fully vaccine free was valid.

Nick Wood told the court that the exemption had been granted to the player by two medical boards, and that he had presented all the necessary medical evidence to officials.

He had done everything. Mr Wood said that he had engaged with everything required of him by Tennis Australia.

Judge Kelly told government lawyers that he was "agitated" by what he had heard so far.

He asked what more the man could have done.

The treatment by Australian Border Force officers after his arrival was argued to be unjust.

After being approached by officials at the airport, he asked to wait until the morning to hear from his team before making a decision. Officials initially agreed to this.

He went to sleep, but was woken up by officers who were pressuring him to respond because it was better for him if they made the decision right away.

The government lawyer argued that the recent Covid infections did not qualify him for an exemption from travel rules.

The caption is media.

The lady is on... The tennis player is in immigration detainer.