"What rules were they referring to in the first place? Oh I forgot, elections soon" - Illya Marchenko on government's treatment of Novak Djokovic
Ukraine's Illya Marchenko has come out in support of Novak Djokovic, who faces the prospect of being deported from Australia over the next few days.
Djokovic's visa was canceled for a second time by the Australian government on Friday. Alex Hawke, the Immigration Minister, decided to exercise his "personal power" to order the Serb's deportation as it was in the "public interest" to do so. Hawke's decision came just a few days after the World No. 1's visa was reinstated by the court.
Against that background, Marchenko took to Twitter on Saturday to lash out at the authorities responsible for Djokovic's plight. The former World No. 49 began by pointing out how the court had ruled in the Serb's favor initially, before claiming the verdict became inconsequential as the government "found a way to cancel his visa anyway."
Marchenko also opined that the Australian government was manipulating the Serb's case to gain political points ahead of the election later this year.
"'Rules are rules' they say, then lose at their own court. Then find a way to cancel his visa anyway. So what rules were they referring to in the first place? Oh, I forgot, elections soon. Stay strong Novak," Marchenko wrote in his tweet.
“Rules are rules” they say, then lose at their own court. Then find a way to cancel his visa anyway. So what rules were they referring to in the first place? Oh, I forgot, elections soon. Stay strong @DjokerNole
Marchenko, who lost in the first qualifying round at this year's Australian Open, also joked that the reason other players were not willing to speak out in support of Djokovic was that they feared the government would cancel their visa too.
"I’m out of Australia so I can. Others just afraid of their visa being canceled as well," Marchenko wrote.
@teamidemo @DjokerNole I’m out of Australia so I can. Others just afraid of their visa being cancelled as well 🤣
"Australian government is just playing political games which have nothing to do with health or tennis" - Illya Marchenko on Novak Djokovic's plight
Replying to Marchenko's tweet, one tennis fan claimed that even though she didn't agree with the government's handling of Djokovic's situation, the Serb had given them enough reason to deport him by attending events while having COVID-19 and making an error on his travel declaration form.
@imarchello @DjokerNole This is abt being honest like other players. Condone ND behavior-expose kids C+/likely faked C+, lied had not traveled in 2 weeks? 2 diff points: We both oppose totalitarian regimes & fight for freedom but defending him bc this? Support him become strong by learning from mistakes
"This is about being honest like other players. Condone ND behavior - expose kids to COVID-19, lied about not traveling in 2 weeks? We both oppose totalitarian regimes & fight for freedom but defending him because of this? Support him become strong by learning from mistakes," the Twitter user wrote in her tweet.
In response, Marchenko suggested Djokovic might not have been aware of his positive PCR test result before he attended the aforementioned events. The Ukrainian also gave the Serb the benefit of the doubt over the error in his travel form, saying the Serb likely didn't fill it out himself.
Marchenko was, however, quick to point out that he didn't agree with the Serb going out in public after testing positive.
"Kids he could be unaware of, PCR takes time to get the result. No I don’t support him walking around with a positive test. Form? 100% he wasn’t doing it by himself. Australian government is just playing political games which have nothing to do with health or tennis," Marchenko wrote in his reply.
@kanestar @DjokerNole Kids he could be unaware of, PCR takes time to get the result. No I don’t support him walking around with a positive test. Form? 100% he wasn’t doing it by himself. Australian government is just playing political games which have nothing to do with health or tennis…