Serbian Lawmaker on Djokovic Case: It Wouldn't Have Happened If He Wasn't a Serb

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Member of Belgrade city parliament Draginja Vlk has told Sputnik that she believes the current situation with Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic would not have occurred if he was not Serbian, and expressed regret that sports are being used for political goals.

"It is a pity that sport is used for political purposes", Vlk said. "Novak Djokovic is the best tennis player of all time and we are confident that justice will prevail. Unfortunately, I don't think it would have happened if he hadn't been Serb, but it is precisely this spirit of freedom and struggle, that he has in his blood, that give him the strength to endure".

On Saturday, media outlets reported that Djokovic was detained by the Australian immigration police soon after his visa was revoked for a second time.

According to the CNN, a court ordered the detention of Djokovic on Friday.

On Monday, a federal district court in Melbourne overturned the Australian government's decision to revoke Djokovic's Australian visa. However, on Friday, his visa was cancelled again.

"Serbia and the entire world hope that the judicial outcome will be positive", Vlk said. "I am sure that Novak Djokovic will win both the Australian Open and the court in Australia".

Vlk also thanked Russians for their support in the case of Novak Djokovic.

"The West suffers the most when Serbs and Russians play sports, and we saw it in New York", she told Sputnik.

On Saturday, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in a video statement posted on his Instagram account that Serbia will stand with Djokovic and will be able to give Australia an answer, but behaving much better than how Melbourne behaved towards Djokovic, in compliance with international norms.

In the four-minute video, Vucic questioned why Djokovic and his family are being harassed. The Serbian president also drew attention to the decision on the visa being made by the executive authorities after a judiciary verdict, which, in his opinion, shows what an irrelevant judiciary looks like.

The Serbian president promised to fight for Novak Djokovic, stressing that Serbs respect and appreciate the people of Australia.

Unvaccinated Djokovic arrived in Australia to participate in the Australian Open but was detained and put in a migration isolation ward after the Australian authorities cancelled his visa, citing violations of the country's vaccination rules. Djokovic was accused of skirting COVID-19 rules that require all tennis players to present proof of vaccination or a medical exemption. The player challenged the decision by the border authorities. Djokovic's lawyers argued that he had been granted an exemption after recovering from the disease in December.