Tennis

Court documents show Djokovic was granted vaccine exemption

January 9, 2022 7:55 am

NOVAK DJOKOVIC [SOURCE: GOOGLE]

Documents presented in Australia’s Federal Circuit Court showed that world tennis number one, Novak Djokovic was granted a medical exemption to compete in the Australian Open.

This comes as the Serbian is confined to a temporary detention facility in Melbourne as he mounts a desperate legal challenge against the cancellation of his visa ahead of the tournament.

It was stated in the document that Djokovic had received a letter on the 30th of last month from the Chief Medical Officer of Tennis Australia recording that he had been provided a medical exemption from COVID vaccination.

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This is based on the grounds that he had recently recovered for the virus.

According to the court filing, Djokovic’s first COVID-positive PCR test was recorded on December 16, 2021, and after not showing any symptoms, he later applied for a medical exemption to compete in the Australian Open.

The documents, which have been submitted to the court ahead of Djokovic’s hearing Monday, confirmed the 34-year-old was unvaccinated when he arrived in Australia on January 5th.

After being questioned by the Australian Border Force, the submission states that Djokovic’s exemption was determined to be invalid under Australia’s BioSecurity Act because his previous infection with COVID-19 is not considered a medical contraindication for COVID-19.

[Source: CNN]