Novak Djokovic Australian Visa Struggle “Damaging On All Fronts”: ATP

The ATP responded on Monday to Novak Djokovic’s astonishing victory in the Australian government’s visa battle by calling the controversy over his vaccination status “detrimental on all fronts”. A Melbourne referee’s decision overturned Djokovic’s visa revocation for Covid-19 health reasons and ended the arrest of an unvaccinated player at the immigration center, potentially paving the way for him to play in a tournament starting next Monday. The men’s tennis governing body, ATP, said it felt sympathy for both Djokovic and the Australian public and stressed it had done everything it could to prevent any problems for players coming to the country to play in the Australian Open.

“The ATP fully respects the sacrifices made by the Australian people since the outbreak of COVID-19 and the strict immigration policy that has been put in place,” the statement said.

About the world’s number one ATP said: “When traveling to Melbourne, Novak Djokovic clearly believed he had been granted the necessary medical exemption to comply with entry rules.

“The events that led to Monday’s court hearing have been detrimental on all fronts, including Novak’s well-being and Australia’s open preparations.”

“Medical exemption requests are made independently of the ATP,” the body said. “However, we have been in constant contact with Tennis Australia to seek clarity throughout the process.”

But the statement made it clear that Djokovic could have avoided the problem.

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“ATP continues to strongly recommend vaccinations for all ATP Tour players, which we believe is essential to our sport’s response to the pandemic … We are encouraged that 97 per cent of the top 100 players have been vaccinated, leading to this year’s Australian Open.”

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and has been automatically generated from the syndicated feed.)