London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

The twists and turns in Novak Djokovic's farcical court hearing

The twists and turns in Novak Djokovic's farcical court hearing

Judge asked 'What more could this man have done?' and ordered immediate release of detained tennis star
The Australian government is considering whether to cancel Novak Djokovic’s visa for a second time, even after a federal judge decided that he should be allowed to remain in the country and compete for a record-extending 10th title at Melbourne Park.

Despite Judge Anthony Kelly finding in the world No1’s favour, dismissing calls for Djokovic’s deportation and stating that he could not have done any more to demonstrate his right to enter the country as an unvaccinated foreign national, Alex Hawke, Australia’s immigration minister, confirmed he retained discretionary powers to throw him out regardless.

The late twist provoked wild anger on the streets of Melbourne, as hundreds of Djokovic’s supporters waved Serbian flags and hurled vitriol at police officers, who used pepper spray to try to disperse the crowds.

The verdict by federal judge Anthony Kelly was unambiguous, declaring that the revoking of Djokovic’s visa after eight hours’ interrogation at Melbourne Airport was unreasonable and that he had to be released from his detention facility immediately. He said the tennis star had not been given enough time to arrange legal representation to defend himself against the original decision to cancel his visa.

The move marked a stunning embarrassment for the Australian government, who had sought to use this case as proof that nobody was too rich or too privileged to bypass the nation’s uncompromising Covid-19 vaccination rules.

After 3½ hours’ debate at the Federal Circuit Court in Melbourne, interrupted by several adjournments, the end came quickly. At 5.16pm local time, long after courts usually sit in this city, the judge quashed the initial visa ruling by Australian Border Force and demanded that Djokovic be freed from detention within 30 minutes.

And yet for all Djokovic’s relief at the verdict, his ordeal in the Australian court system was not at an end. “Following today’s Federal Circuit and Family Court determination on a procedural ground, it remains within the minister’s discretion to cancel Mr Djokovic’s visa under his personal power of cancellation within section 133C(3) of the Migration Act,” said a spokesperson for Mr Hawke. “The minister is currently considering the matter and the process remains ongoing.”

The resolve of Scott Morrison’s government to make an example of Djokovic, whose grounds for a medical exemption they regard as spurious, was evident when Christopher Tran, the lawyer acting on their behalf, signalled that the immigration minister could “consider whether to exercise the personal power of cancellation” over his right to stay. Sure enough, Mr Hawke’s office indicated that they were not letting the matter lie.

The stand-off between Djokovic and an Australian administration campaigning for re-election in four months’ time has become a high-wire political game. On the one hand, Morrison has significant reputational capital invested in the Serb’s case, having used it as symbolic of Australia’s unbending restrictions at the border. “Rules are rules,” as he put it, before Judge Kelly’s intervention left those rules in doubt. But on the other hand, the prime minister risks looking vindictive if he continues to pursue other avenues for ejecting Djokovic from the country.

Judge Kelly was satisfied that Djokovic had provided all possible evidence to illustrate his exemption from the vaccination requirements. “The point I am somewhat agitated about is what more could this man have done?” he asked. “Here, a professor and an eminently qualified physician have produced and provided to the applicant a medical exemption. Further to this, the exemption and its basis were further given by an independent expert specialist panel established by the Victorian state government.”

With the hearing also plagued by technical difficulties for those trying to dial in remotely, the judge demanded that Djokovic be transferred out of the Park Hotel in Carlton – a detention facility usually reserved for refugees and asylum-seekers – so that he could follow the rapid developments in his case.

Ultimately, the judge deemed the cancellation of Djokovic’s visa “unreasonable” as he had been told, at 5.20am on January 6, that he could have until 8.30am to respond to officials. Djokovic, who was incommunicado throughout his cross-examination at Melbourne Airport, had pleaded: “If you will let me talk to people, even though you have taken my phone from me, I will get you what you want.”

Instead, the call to revoke the visa was made before that deadline, at 7.42am, depriving Djokovic of the time that he could have used to “consult others” and make further representations. Paul Wood, Djokovic’s barrister, told the court: “What emerges with the utmost clarity from a transcript of Mr Djokovic’s interviews at the airport was a repeated appeal to officers that he had done absolutely everything he understood was required of him to enter Australia.”

His four days since, holed up at a grimy hotel with little contact to the outside world, have been draining even for a player conditioned to grappling for adversity. At one stage he asked whether he could be moved to more salubrious accommodation, or whether his private chef could provide him with vegan meals, but these requests were denied. Only when the judge’s ruling came through could he begin preparing to move to his usual quarters in Melbourne’s inner south-east.

For now at least, Djokovic, not to mention the hundreds of Serb supporters who have been protesting in the centre of Melbourne, can toast a victory against what they perceive as an oppressive Australian system. In the tumultuous career of Djokovic, it marks just one more trial of strength that has been won. But it could be Morrison, who has an election to win and a courtroom humiliation to explain, who has the final say.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×