The Australian Border Force is investigating whether Novak Djokovic incorrectly declared he had not traveled and would not do so for two weeks before his flight to Australia, in the latest twist in the tennis star’s visa cancellation saga.
Questions have been raised about the declaration completed by an agent for Djokovic, with social media posts seemingly showing he was in Belgrade on Christmas Day before flying to Australia from Spain on Jan. 4.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison yesterday received a call from Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabi, in which he sought to manage the diplomatic fallout of the overturned visa cancellation by insisting Australia’s border policies were non-discriminatory.
Photo: Reuters
Despite a win in court restoring his visa on Monday, Djokovic’s fate is now to be determined by Australian Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs Alex Hawke, due to his personal power to again cancel the visa and deport the world’s No. 1 male tennis player.
Any decision to recancel the visa would likely be met by a fresh legal challenge from Djokovic, and a request for an injunction to stay out of immigration detention so that he could play in the Australian Open, where he is chasing a male record 21st grand slam singles title.
To recancel the visa, Hawke would have to be satisfied there are grounds for cancelation, such as a threat to public safety, and that cancelation was in the public interest.
That could bring fresh scrutiny to Djokovic’s pre-travel declaration and his public appearances in the days after his positive COVID-19 test result of Dec. 16 last year.
In his Australian traveler declaration, filed on Jan. 1, Djokovic declared “no” when asked: “Have you traveled or will you travel in the 14 days prior to your flight to Australia?”
The declaration is accompanied with a warning that giving false or misleading information is a “serious offence,” also punishable by civil penalties.
In documents filed to the federal circuit court, Djokovic said that on Jan. 1 he authorized his agent to submit this declaration, before traveling to Melbourne from Spain via Dubai on Tuesday last week.
Asked if the travel declaration could provide fresh grounds to cancel Djokovic’s visa, a spokesperson for Hawke said the minister was still considering whether to exercise his power to do so.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB