‘No one cared’: Lisa Wilkinson slams Novak Djokovic

Lisa Wilkinson has teed off at tennis superstar Novak Djokovic, claiming he “lacked grace” before he was told to leave Australia.

Lisa Wilkinson has teed off at tennis superstar Novak Djokovic, claiming he “lacked grace” in the way he handled the news of his exemption to play in the Australian Open.

Djokovic, an outspoken vaccine sceptic, had received the green light to play at this month’s tournament in Melbourne – which didn’t go down too well with many Australians who have been locked down for months on end.

Today it is being reported that his visa has been cancelled. The tennis star was told to leave the country today but reports suggest he will challenge the decision in Victoria’s courts.

On The Project on Wednesday there was a discussion about who was responsible for allowing the sportsman into the nation.

At the end of the discussion, host Lisa Wilkinson claimed that “no one cared” about the technicalities of the case, before turning her criticism to Djokovic.

Lisa Wilkinson criticised Novak’s reaction to the news.

“The problem is, no one cared today. I think everyone knows someone who’s really suffered through Covid, if not many, many, many people,” she said.

“We know people who’ve lost loved ones, who weren’t there to say goodbye to them. And in the end, people are just sick of superstars being given special treatment. And that’s the category that this looked to fall into.

“And it probably didn’t help, Novak, that you were lacking a bit of grace in your announcement of the whole thing. It was all a bit, ‘Let’s go!’”

At the eleventh hour, the world number one’s entry to Australia has been denied following the controversy over a Covid vaccine exemption he was granted to play in the Australian Open.

The Serb landed in Melbourne around 11pm Wednesday, but his working visa needed support from the Victorian Government – support which officials reportedly refused to give.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic. Picture: Paul Crock/AFP

Victoria’s Acting Sports Minister Jaala Pulford said her state had rejected a request for help and visa approvals were a matter for the federal government.

It was unclear why the state government would need to give its support. But Australian media reports said the nine-time Australian Open champion may have submitted a request for the wrong type of visa.

“The federal government has asked if we will support Novak Djokovic’s visa application to enter Australia,” Ms Pulford said in a message on Twitter.

“We will not be providing Novak Djokovic with individual visa application support to participate in the 2022 Australian Open Grand Slam.”

The Australian newspaper said Djokovic was seeking to enter the country on a work visa which “was believed to require the support from the Victorian Government”.

The Age newspaper said the Australian Border Force (ABF) had contacted the Victorian Government when they realised Djokovic’s team had requested “the wrong type of visa”.

In a statement, Border Force said: “The ABF can confirm that Mr Djokovic failed to provide appropriate evidence to meet the entry requirements to Australia, and his visa has been subsequently cancelled.

“Non-citizens who do not hold a valid visa on entry or who have had their visa cancelled will be detained and removed from Australia.”