11:22 PM
A court hearing for Novak Djokovic's appeal against a deportation order that threatens his participation in the Australian Open ended on Sunday and a verdict was expected within hours.
James Allsop said he and two other judges were going to reach a decision. The top-ranked male tennis player needs to win the appeal to retain his Australian Open title.
The schedule for Monday's matches was supposed to be released about 75 minutes after the court adjourned. On the first day, he is supposed to play.
The Immigration Minister said that the top-ranked player is a "talisman of a community of anti-vaccination sentiment" and that he was trying to deport him.
Stephen Lloyd took aim at the anti-vaccine stance of the man, as well as his history of ignoring safety measures.
Lloyd pointed to the fact that the Serbian player tested positive for COVID-19 last month and attended a French media interview while wearing a mask for a photo shoot. He acknowledged that he made an error of judgement.
Lloyd said that the minister believed that his presence in Australia would encourage people to disregard safety measures.
Lloyd said that the presence of the Serbian player in Australia was seen to be an overwhelming risk.
The minister canceled the visa of the man because he may be a risk to the health and good order of the Australian public.
Australia has a high rate of COVID-19 vaccination.
The minister provided no evidence that the presence of the Serbian player in Australia may encourage anti-vaccine sentiment.
Nick Wood said that the minister had failed to take into account how deporting the Serb might "galvanize anti-vax activists" when he faced deportation.
There was a call for a boycott of the Australian Open.
Hundreds of activists held a peaceful rally outside the Australian Open complex that hosts the event on Saturday and planned another for Monday over the treatment of Novak Djokovic.
We are at Rod Laver Arena to support Novak. He's won nine Australian Open titles. One of the rally organizers said that he hopes this will be the 10th one. "We're a peaceful movement, here to raise awareness and support everyone's freedom of choice."
Lloyd said that canceling the visa would cause unrest. The minister was more concerned about the consequences of the Serb staying.
After meeting with immigration officials earlier in the day, the tennis player and his lawyers were taken to an immigration detention hotel.
While the challenge was heard via video conference, he was allowed to leave the hotel and go to his lawyers' offices.
After spending four nights in a hotel in downtown Melbourne, he was released last Monday when he won a court challenge against his visa cancellation.
A three-year ban on returning to the country can be imposed if you are deported from Australia.
The Health Department advised that there was a low risk of the disease being transmitted to the crowd at the Australian Open.
The Serbian is trying to win his 21st Grand Slam singles title. He is currently tied with two other men for the most by a man in history.
In a post on social media Wednesday that constituted his most extensive public comments yet on the episode, the Serbian tennis player blamed his agent for checking the wrong box on his travel document, calling it a human error and not deliberate.
In the 14 days before he arrived in Australia, Djokovic did not reveal his travels to Spain and Serbia. He was minded to give it some weight in favor of cancellation of his visa.
The episode has touched a nerve in Australia and Victoria state, where locals went through more than 260 days of lockdowns during the worst of the Pandemic.
The highly transmissible omicron variant is driving a surge in Australia's virus cases. There were 130,000 new cases in the nation on Friday. The surge is still putting strain on the health system and disrupting supply chains despite the fact that many people aren't getting sick as much.
The visa cancellation has upset the supporters of Novak Djokovic. The Serbian President asked if the Australian government was just trying to score political points ahead of the upcoming elections.
"Why didn't you tell him it was impossible to get a visa?" The Australian authorities were asked in a social media address. "Why are you harassing him and why are you maltreating his family and the entire nation that is free and proud?"
Everyone at the Australian Open is required to have a vaccine.
The last match of Monday's schedule will see Serbian Novak Djokovic play fellow Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic. If the appeal is lost, the lucky loser who lost in a qualification tournament but got into the main draw because of another player's exit would be replaced.
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