Novak Djokovic won't be playing in Australian Open after visa canceled at airport
Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic was denied entry into Australia on Wednesday after his visa was canceled, and will be flying out of the country on Thursday, The Guardian reports.
Djokovic is a vocal opponent of vaccinations, and before flying into Melbourne on Wednesday for the Australian Open, said he received a medical exemption from the requirement that players be vaccinated against COVID-19. Reuters reports that Djokovic's team applied for the wrong type of visa, and after this was realized, the local government of Victoria, where the Open is played, said it wouldn't support his application.
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Before Djokovic arrived in Australia, there was backlash against the federal government's decision to grant the tennis player a medical exemption from vaccination. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said earlier on Wednesday there would be "no special rules" for Djokovic, and if there was insufficient evidence of a medical exemption, "he'll be on the next plane home."
Australia is experiencing a COVID-19 surge fueled by the highly contagious Omicron variant, with the number of daily cases hitting a record high for the third day in a row on Wednesday.
