Chaotic Scenes Erupted In Melbourne After Novak Djokovic Was Allowed To Stay In Australia
Police were forced to use pepper spray to subdue those who were the rowdiest.
Chaotic scenes erupted in Melbourne yesterday (January 10) after Novak Djokovic's visa cancellation was overturned in court.
The world number one male tennis player has been permitted to stay and compete in this month's Australian Open.
Fans gathered outside Novak Djokovic's lawyer's office and were prepared to rally if they didn't get the result they were hoping for.
The government acknowledged that it did not give Djokovic enough time to respond to its decision to cancel his visa.
Judge Anthony Kelly ordered the government to pay costs and for Djokovic to be released from quarantine and have his personal effects returned to him.
Despite getting the win, the situation outside got fairly hectic.
The ABC reports a man jumped on a car that was exiting the Rialto Towers car park because he believed Novak was sitting inside it and that sent the crowd into a frenzy.
They surrounded the vehicle and essentially blocked it from moving forward, which prompted police to try and clear a path.
However, the Djokovic fans ended up getting in a scuffle with authorities and officers were forced to use pepper spray to subdue those who were the rowdiest.
News.com.au reports a small group of supporters confronted police with verbal abuse and threw bottles at them.
While the Serbian tennis star got the result he was pining for, his future in Australia is unclear.
As of last night, Immigration Minister Alex Hawke said he was still weighing up what the federal government wanted to do with Novak's visa.
A spokesperson for the MP said: "Following today's Federal Circuit and Family Court determination on a procedural ground, it remains within Immigration Minister Hawke's discretion to consider cancelling Mr Djokovic's visa under his personal power of cancellation within section 133C(3) of the Migration Act.
"The Minister is currently considering the matter and the process remains ongoing."
Djokovic could land back in court where he could face being banned from Australia for three years, although he would have an option to appeal the decision.
The tennis star's legal team successfully argued in court that Novak had done everything he was told before flying to Australia, after getting approval from Tennis Australia and the Victorian state government.
His lawyers revealed the grounds for the tennis player's medical exemption were that he had recently contracted Covid-19, having received a positive PCR test on 16 December.
Featured Image Credit: Adam Hegarty/TwitterTopics: Novak Djokovic, Australia
Stewart Perrie