Novak Djokovic has broken his silence on his deportation from Australia ahead of last month's Australian Open, saying that he "completely disagrees" with the decision.
The world number one remains unvaccinated for COVID-19, but had anonymously applied for a medical exemption to compete at the opening Grand Slam tournament of the year - a request which was accepted by two independent Australian panels.
A separate travel declaration did include an error, though, while public backlash over the strict COVID-19 restrictions in Australia contributed to Djokovic being detained upon entry into the country and eventually deported as the government cancelled his visa.
"I understand that there is a lot of criticism, and I understand that people come out with different theories on how lucky I was or how convenient it is," Djokovic told BBC Sport.
"But no-one is lucky and convenient of getting COVID. Millions of people have and are still struggling with COVID around the world. So I take this very seriously, I really don't like someone thinking I've misused something or in my own favour, in order to, you know, get a positive PCR test and eventually go to Australia.
"I was really sad and disappointed with the way it all ended for me in Australia. It wasn't easy. Absolutely, the visa declaration error was not deliberately made. It was accepted and confirmed by the Federal Court and the minister himself in the Ministry for Immigration in Australia.
"So actually, what people probably don't know is that I was not deported from Australia on the basis that I was not vaccinated, or I broke any rules or that I made an error in my visa declaration. All of that was actually approved and validated by the Federal Court of Australia and the Minister for Immigration.
"The reason why I was deported from Australia was because the Minister for Immigration used his discretion to cancel my visa based on his perception that I might create some anti-vax sentiment in the country or in the city, which I completely disagree with."
In his first interview since the saga, 20-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic also confirmed that he would be prepared to sacrifice future tournaments over his vaccination stance.
Barney Corkhill
