Novak Djokovic may have won his high profile visa appeal case in Australia, but a glaring error has been spotted in his legal documents.
The tennis star flew to the country to compete in the Australian Open but soon found himself detained at an immigration facility in Melbourne after his visa was cancelled.
The Serbian has not received a Covid-19 vaccine, however his lawyers said he'd been granted an exemption as he had recorded a positive PCR test on 16 December.
Yesterday (Monday 10 January), the visa cancellation was quashed by Judge Anthony Kelly and the 34-year-old was permitted to leave the controversial Park Hotel, where he'd been held since Thursday.
The eyes of the world were watching on as the case unfolded, and while Djokovic may have won the appeal, his lawyers missed an embarrassing error in their documents.
The men's singles world number one was named as 'Novak Djokavic', rather than Djokovic.
Fortunately for Djokovic and his team, their appeal was successful.
After Djokovic's lawyers argued their case, Judge Kelly asked the court, 'What more could this man have done?', in relation to fulfilling the expected requirements for a medical exemption.
The minutes of the court transcript also noted that Djokovic had not been given adequate time to respond to the notification to cancel his visa.
Having been allowed to return to a tennis court, Djokovic tweeted: "I'm pleased and grateful that the Judge overturned my visa cancellation. Despite all that has happened, I want to stay and try to compete @AustralianOpen.
"I remain focused on that. I flew here to play at one of the most important events we have in front of the amazing fans.
"For now I cannot say more but THANK YOU all for standing with me through all this and encouraging me to stay strong."
However, the story may not be over yet, as Minister for Immigration Alex Hawke is still considering whether to exercise a personal power of cancellation of Djokovic's visa, in a process that could drag on for a number of days.
A spokesperson for Hawke 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."
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Sport, Australia, World News
Jake Massey