CANBERRA (LifeSiteNews) – The Australian government has granted a temporary visa to tennis star Novak Djokovic, so that he can compete in January’s Australian Open.
Speaking with reporters Wednesday, Djokovic confirmed initial media reports that the Australian government had granted him the visa.
“I received the news [Tuesday] morning, and I was very, very happy to hear that news,” Djokovic said.
“It has been a tough year with everything that happened, obviously, in Australia for me and for the people who are close in my life,” he continued.
“This came as a great new year present, I think, and I am looking forward to going to Australia and hopefully having another successful Australian Open. That has been historically my most successful Grand Slam.”
Djokovic also said that the visa relieved pressure he felt and clears up uncertainty for him and those close to him regarding the off-season, the Epoch Times reported.
“I look forward to starting the new year in Australia, and we’ll see how the next year goes,” the tennis star said.
Andrew Giles, the Australian immigration minister, confirmed on Thursday that Djokovic was granted a visa. According to Giles, the grounds for the visa ban no longer exist.
RELATED: Novak Djokovic asks Serbian fans to forgive critics following Wimbledon victory: ‘We are Christians’
In January, Djokovic was detained in Australia when he came to the country to play in the Australian Open, as LifeSiteNews previously reported. The Australian government claimed that Djokovic failed to apply for a visa that allowed for a medical exemption to the country’s COVID jab mandate for foreign travelers. Djokovic had previously been granted a medical exemption in December having recovered from a bout of COVID.
A legal battle ensued, ending with a judge’s ruling that Djokovic’s visa must be reinstated. Nevertheless, Djokovic was deported from the country shortly afterwards. The then-immigration minister Alex Hawke said that the deportation was motivated by fears that Djokovic’s views on the jab would cause “civil unrest,” and that Djokovic’s presence would discourage Australians from getting the jab. His visa was, therefore, cancelled. Typically, when Australia cancels someone’s visa, that person cannot apply for a visa again for three years, barring some exceptional circumstance.
RELATED: Australia cancels visa of unvaccinated tennis star Novak Djokovic for the second time
Djokovic spoke to the BBC in February about his detention and deportation and said that no one from the Australian government asked him about his views on the jab. He also explained that he did not want to take the jab because he wished to preserve his bodily autonomy, even if that meant forfeiting championships. He has since been excluded from participation in the Canadian and U.S. Opens for his refusal to be inoculated against COVID. He stated in September that he has no regrets about not taking the jabs, and in June said he holds no grudges for being deported from Australia.
Djokovic is one of millions of people around the world who continue to have concerns about the safety and effectiveness of the COVID shots. The experimental medication was developed far more quickly than traditional vaccines under former U.S. President Donald Trump’s Operation Warp Speed initiative and failed to stop the spread of the virus.
In March, it was found that 11,289 cases of pericarditis/myocarditis after COVID vaccination were reported to the U.S. government’s federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) between January 1 and February 25, which was already 47% of the 24,177 reports for the same submitted in all of 2021. An April study from Israel indicates that COVID infection alone cannot account for such cases, despite claims to the contrary.
VAERS is not the only data source indicating cause for concern. Data from the Pentagon’s Defense Medical Epidemiology Database (DMED) has been similarly alarming, showing that 2021 saw drastic spikes in a variety of diagnoses for serious medical issues over the previous five-year average, including hypertension (2,181%), neurological disorders (1,048%), multiple sclerosis (680%), Guillain-Barre syndrome (551%), breast cancer, (487%), female infertility (472%), pulmonary embolism (468%), migraines (452%), ovarian dysfunction (437%), testicular cancer (369%), and tachycardia (302%).
The problem continues far outside the borders of the USA and of Canada. Jab injuries have been blamed for an increase rise in excess deaths in Great Britain, and a recent poll found that 23% of Germans experienced severe adverse effects after being inoculated against COVID.