By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-09 17:41:48 | Updated at 2025-01-10 02:47:58
9 hours ago
Novak Djokovic has sensationally claimed he was poisioned with lead when he was detained in Australia before being deported back in 2022.
The tennis superstar recently revealed the trauma he still endures surrounding his Melbourne Covid nightmare in 2022.
Then immigration minister Alex Hawke infamously denied Djokovic entry into the country three years ago because he was not fully vaccinated.
Djokovic was detained at Melbourne's Park Hotel for five days as he challenged the decision before he was sent home.
In an interview with GQ ahead of this year's Australian Open, the 24-time Grand Slam champion has alleged he had been positioned during his time in the hotel.
'I had some health issues. And I realised that in that hotel in Melbourne I was fed with some food that poisoned me,' Djokovic said.
Novak Djokovic has claimed he was 'poisioned' before he was deported from Australia in 2022
The tennis legend was deported after a row over his vaccination status in January 2022
Djokovic recently revealed he still feels 'trauma' when he visits Melbourne after his deportation
'I had some discoveries when I came back to Serbia. I never told this to anybody publicly, but discoveries that I was, I had a really high level of heavy metal. Heavy metal. I had the lead, very high level of lead and mercury.
When asked whether he believed it came from the food, Djokovic replied 'That’s the only way.'
A spokesperson from Australia’s Department of Home Affairs told GQ, 'For privacy reasons, the Department cannot comment on individual cases.'
Djokovic claimed the only food he had was provided by hotel, while he claimed his treatment was different to other athletes quarantining because he had been placed in a 'kind of jail type room'.
Djokovic was forced to leave Australia just days before he was scheduled to walk on court as the defending Australian Open champion in January 2022.
His detention came after he entered the country unvaccinated during pandemic border restrictions.
Djokovic's visa had been cancelled by the Australian Government on 'health and good order' grounds, with an appeal against the decision ultimately being rejected.
The Serbian star suggested his ultimate deportation was down to fears from Australia's Government that he had become a 'hero' for the growing anti-vaccination movement in the country at the time.
'That’s the reason why I was deported from Australia,' Djokovic said. 'That’s what the three federal judges said in the end. Their sentence is that they are not in a position to question the discretionary right of the [immigration] minister.
'It was so political. It had nothing really to do with vaccine or COVID or anything else. It’s just political. The politicians could not stand me being there. For them, I think, it was less damage to deport me than to keep me there.'
