The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

'They crucified Jesus and now they're trying to crucify Novak': Tennis dad's astonishing attack on Australia

6th January, 2022
Advertisement
Autoplay in... 6 (Cancel)
Up Next No more videos! Playlist is empty -
Replay
Cancel
Next
6th January, 2022
220
2492 Reads

Novak Djokovic’s family say he has been “kept in captivity” in Australia as they rallied around the world No.1 who’s been denied entry into the country for his Australian Open title defence.

The 34-year-old was granted a medical exemption from COVID-19 vaccination requirements to compete in the year’s first major, but after a public outcry in Australia was detained by officials at the border on Thursday.

Djokovic is now in a quarantine hotel in Melbourne after his lawyers secured an agreement for him to stay in the country for a court hearing on Monday in which he hopes to overturn the federal government ban on his entry.

“They’re keeping him in captivity. They are trampling on Novak and thus they are trampling on Serbia and the Serbian people,” Djokovic’s father Srdjan told reporters at a news conference in Belgrade on Friday AEDT.

“(Australian Prime Minister, Scott) Morrison and his like have dared attack Novak to bring Serbia to its knees. Novak has always shown that he comes from a proud nation,” Srdjan said.

“This has nothing to do with sports, this is a political agenda. Novak is the best player and the best athlete in the world, but several hundred million people from the West can’t stomach that,” he added.

He accused Australia and the West of “mistreating” Djokovic because he is a Serb and evoked the 1999 bombing by NATO of Serbia over its breakaway province of Kosovo.

“Shame on them, the entire freedom-loving world should rise together with Serbia,” Srdjan said.

Advertisement

“They crucified Jesus and now they are trying to crucify Novak the same way and force him on his knees.”

JANUARY 06: (L-R) Goran Djokovic Dijana Djokovic Djordje Djokovic and Srdjan Djokovic, the family of Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic attend a rally in front of Serbia's National Assembly as World No.1 tennis player Novak Djokovic fights deportation from Australia after his visa was cancelled, on January 6, 2022 in Belgrade, Serbia. (Photo by Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images)

JANUARY 06: Goran Djokovic Dijana Djokovic Djordje Djokovic and Srdjan Djokovic, the family of Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic attend a rally in front of Serbia’s National Assembly as World No.1 tennis player Novak Djokovic fights deportation from Australia after his visa was cancelled. (Photo by Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images)

Earlier, he had described his son to the Telegraf website as “the Spartacus of the new world that doesn’t tolerate injustice, colonialism and hypocrisy.”

Djokovic’s mother Dijana, who also attended the conference alongside the player’s brother Djordje, described the situation as “scandalous”.

“They want to clip his wings, but we know how strong he is,” she said.

Djokovic’s family displayed his nine Australian Open trophies at the conference, adding they would organise a support rally in front of Serbia’s parliament building in the city centre.

Former mentor Niki Pilic, who oversaw Djokovic’s career as a teenager, told Reuters that the situation was “farcical”, adding: “Politics have interfered with sports here as it so often does.”

Advertisement

Pilic said Morrison was “trying to please a part of the country’s society and improve his poor political rating.”

Former Yugoslavia Davis Cup coach Radmilo Armenulic said Djokovic had been treated “like a felon”.

“They detained him under police presence. He was held in a room for eight hours after he was cleared to take part in the Australian Open by the medical panel,” Armenulic said.

“This decision, in my opinion, reflects lawlessness and not the rule of law. They have treated Novak like a criminal and a villain to stop him from winning his 21st grand slam.”

Serbian politicians seized on the opportunity to get a popularity boost ahead of this year’s elections as protesters gathered in downtown Belgrade calling for his release.

Populist Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s government summoned the Australian ambassador in protest of Djokovic’s “detention”.

Vucic said he had spoken to Djokovic and blasted Australian authorities for keeping the tennis star in an “infamous hotel”.

Advertisement

“I’m afraid that this overkill will continue,” Vucic said. “When you can’t defeat someone on the court, then you do such things.”

Meanwhile Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews has revealed other international players are also being investigated after Novak Djokovic’s visa was deemed invalid.

Andrews confirmed the Australian Border Force, which she oversees, is looking at other players who have travelled to Australia in similar circumstances for the Open.

“I will be briefed further on that potentially today,” she told the Nine Network.

“But we do have the intelligence to indicate there are some individuals here now that have not met the entry requirements and we have to investigate that.”

Andrews could not say how many players were being investigated, adding anyone entering Australia had to show evidence of vaccination or medical reasons why they are not vaccinated.

“I know there is a lot of chatter about the visa. The visa, on my understanding, is not the issue, it is the entry requirement.

Advertisement

“The (Australian) Border Force has been very clear that he (Novak) was not able to meet the requirement to provide the evidence he needed for entry to Australia.”

The world No.1 faces another three days in an immigration detention hotel in Melbourne amid one of the great modern sports controversies, waiting for a legal ruling over whether he can defend the Australian crown he’s won nine times.

Beyond the quiet of his hotel, the outcry in his native Serbia over the treatment of Djokovic is growing with his family saying he had been “held captive” in Australia and insisting the treatment of one of sport’s greatest performers was a disgrace.

Nearer to home, former Davis Cup player Paul McNamee who ran the Australian Open from 1995 until 2006 as tournament director, joined those who think the 34-year-old deserved his day on court, not in court.

“It’s not fair. The guy played by the rules, he got his visa, he arrives, he’s a nine-time champion and whether people like it or not he’s entitled to fair play,” McNamee told ABC News.

“There’s no doubt there’s some disconnect between the state and the federal government.

“I hate to think politics are involved but it feels that way.”

Advertisement

Djokovic had travelled to Australia after Victoria state authorities granted him an exemption to the vaccination rules but on arrival on Wednesday night, the ABF rejected the visa.

A court hearing to attempt to stop his deportation is set for Monday at the secure hotel used more often by immigration officials to house asylum seekers and refugees.

“He is the only player that I’ve ever known in the history of the Australian Open that has had his visa rescinded,” said McNamee.

“Players need to know with confidence that if they’re flying round the world to events, there’s not going to be this sort of problem at entry.

“It’s a problem we’ve seen over the last two years in Australia and the victim of that is the No.1 player in the world.

“He was following the rules. Now you might be angry that he was given an exemption, but players need to have confidence that the rules they abide by are going to be enforced.

Advertisement

“It’s not fair to him. Whether you like the rules or not, he doesn’t make the rules – so he deserves his day on court and not in court, in my opinion.”

In Serbia, where Djokovic is idolised as a nation hero, his family held a rally in front of the country’s parliament building in the capital Belgrade, with around 300 fans chanting slogans backing him.

His father Srdjan promised the crowd the protests would be held every day until Djokovic was released.

© AAP

close