Incident leaves Novak Djokovic reeling during six-hour interrogation

The shock moment that left Djokovic reeling during six-hour interrogation

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Novak Djokovic was victorious in his appeal against the cancellation of his visa and his Tullamarine Airport interrogation was seen as key to the judge coming to that decision.

Djokovic was interviewed seven times by Border Force staff in the interrogation, with increasing confusion about how he even ended up in this situation.

In the first interview, Djokovic explained that he had travelled to Australia to participate in the Australian Open, and confirmed he was not vaccinated against Covid-19. He also noted he had tested positive on two previous occasions.

The second interview, conducted 14 minutes later, saw Djokovic’s medical exemption up for questioning. Confusion mounted after he was asked for more details about the documents he provided.

INTERVIEW #2, TIME BEGUN 12.35AM, JANUARY 6

INTERVIEWER: So for the medical exemption which you received, did you provide some kind of documents? DJOKOVIC: Yes, we did provide documents. INTERVIEWER: Are you aware what sort of documents were provided? DJOKOVIC: I don’t have the documents printed out with me, but [...] I can try to find electronically, we did send an email to independent medical panel that was selected by the Federal Australian Government to review the medical exemption requests that we have sent.

In the third interview, the world number one explained that he had communicated directly with Tennis Australia about his Covid status, but was not contacted by the federal government.

INTERVIEW #3, TIME BEGUN 12.46AM, JANUARY 6

DJOKOVIC: Since I’m participating in Tennis Australian Open that is run by Tennis Australia, my communication was directly to them […] and they have reviewed it with their own Tennis Australian medical panel and the Victorian state. So then, as a result of that I was granted […] to access Australia with a medical exemption permission. That’s the whole story basically. INTERVIEWER: That’s absolutely fine, but the thing is like you [inaudible] come to Australia and it is pretty much governed by federal government. DJOKOVIC: No we did not get any emails from the federal government.

After a three-hour intermission, Djokovic was then interrogated by Border Force staff, who gave him a notice of intention to consider cancelling his visa. When Border Force said he had a 20-minute timeframe to prepare additional information, Djokovic began to voice his frustration.

INTERVIEW #4, TIME BEGUN 3.55AM, JANUARY 6

DJOKOVIC: So you’re giving me legally 20 minutes to try to provide additional information that I don’t have? At 4 o’clock in the morning? INTERVIEWER: Yep OK, so do you think this is not the right time to participate in the interview? And you would be participating in an interview at a later stage? DJOKOVIC: No we did not get any emails from the federal government.

The confusion intensified as the interviews continued, with the fifth concluding Djokovic’s evidence was not considered a medical contraindication for COVID-19 vaccination in Australia, and that he needed to provide further evidence to support his exemption. The interviewer then asked Djokovic if he wanted to sign the notice of intention, and he refused.

INTERVIEW #5

DJOKOVIC: I would not want to sign this document unless I have some answers to my questions. INTERVIEWER: That’s fine, but I need to go through this process, and so, that’s fine if you don’t want to sign it [...] I will make a photocopy of it, I will give it to you, so I’m just going to say you’re not going to sign. DJOKOVIC: Okay so can you just explain to me whether you will allow me to acquire more information through my phone with my agent? INTERVIEWER: Not at this stage, once I finish off this or suspend this interview I will come back and I will let you know. DJOKOVIC: Okay.

The sixth interview - about five hours after the first one began - saw a tired Djokovic requesting to conduct the final interview at a later time so he could rest.

INTERVIEW #6, TIME BEGUN 5.20AM, JANUARY 6

INTERVIEWER: I have already served you with the notice of intention to consider cancellation and [...] what have you have advised me is that you need rest and up to 8/8.30. And that’s when you would be able to speak to your solicitor again and get some more information. DJOKOVIC: Yes. INTERVIEWER: So that’s absolutely fine, because I have spoken to my supervisors and they’re more than happy to -- DJOKOVIC: Okay great. INTERVIEWER: -- or you to have rest. So any more questions? DJOKOVIC: No more questions for now.

The final interview saw the angry world number one advised that a final decision could be made based on the information already provided, if Djokovic didn’t respond by later that morning.

INTERVIEW #7, TIME BEGUN 6.07AM, JANUARY 6

INTERVIEWER: The decision can be made based on the information that we already have, which if you don’t respond it’s not going to be -- DJOKOVIC: Yeah I know you’re going to cancel my visa, it’s obvious [...] In terms of me staying here and waiting for the lawyers to engage with federal government, I mean because I’m not allowed to go in so I would like just to wait for this another two – three hours to see whether or not they can do something, that’s the whole idea.. DJOKOVIC: Okay. INTERVIEWER: Alright. So look, if your visa was cancelled you wouldn’t stay here, you would go to a hotel in the city.

Author: Staff writers Producer: Stefan Centofanti in partnership with Learn more