"He's like an animal in a trap, unbelievable what the people from the government are doing to him" - Novak Djokovic's uncle Goran Djokovic
In a recent interview with RT news, Novak Djokovic's uncle Goran Djokovic claimed the World No. 1 was treated like a trapped animal after the cancelation of his visa last week. Goran asserted that the Australian government did "very wrong things" to the Serbian legend, which was like a "horror" for his entire family.
Novak Djokovic won the court battle on Monday as Judge Anthony Kelly quashed the cancelation of his visa by the Australian Border Force. The judge also ordered his immediate release from immigration detention, officially declaring him eligible for the 2022 Australian Open.
In that context, Goran Djokovic blamed Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley as well as the government authorities for the entire visa fiasco. Goran went as far as claiming that Tiley failed to carry out the duties that were expected of a man in his position.
"Unfortunately the (Australian Open) tournament director didn’t do his job, and the guys from the authorities failed," Goran Djokovic said. "This is something like a horror for our family, that’s why they are protesting every day in front of the national parliament (in Belgrade)."
Hailing Novak Djokovic as "one of the best sportsmen ever," Goran expressed sadness at everything the Serb went through at the hands of the Australian government. He also claimed that if the authorities didn't want him to enter the country they shouldn't have granted him the visa in the first place.
"We are very unhappy, we're so sorry, we like the Australian people, but the Australian government did very wrong things to Novak, one of the best sportsmen ever," Goran said. "This is very sad. I don’t why they are doing that, using Novak like an example, I don’t know, I still can't understand."
"If they don’t want him in Australia, they didn’t have to give him a visa, OK, he wouldn't be there," Goran added. "He’s like an animal in a trap, like a wolf in the mountain, it’s unbelievable what the people from the government are doing to him."
"This is his personal choice" - Uncle Goran on Novak Djokovic being unvaccinated
It was confirmed during the hearing on Monday that Novak Djokovic is not vaccinated against COVID-19. The World No. 1 also affirmed that he has tested positive two times for COVID-19 so far - once in 2020 and the second time last month.
Transcript :- https://t.co/QhbHhCKjSF
Against that background, Goran Djokovic emphasized that it is the 34-year-old's "personal choice" if he wants to get vaccinated or not. Goran also explained the reason for Djokovic's medical exemption, stating that the 20-time Grand Slam champion has "antibodies in his blood" against the virus since he tested positive for COVID-19 in December 2021.
"This is his personal choice (not to get vaccinated)," Goran Djokovic said. "Personally I’m vaccinated, but this is about him."
"On the other side, he had coronavirus in December… he’s had coronavirus twice, he has antibodies in his blood," Goran added. "But this is his choice, a personal choice, maybe in the future, but for now he’s not vaccinated."
Novak Djokovic will be eyeing a record 10th Australian Open title when he takes the court at Rod Laver Arena next week.