Australia ties itself in knots over No-vax Djokovic

THE PARK HOTEL in Melbourne is not the kind of place where a gluten-free, vegan tennis star typically holes up. But Novak Djokovic, the world’s best player and perhaps its most famous anti-vaxxer, is not typical. For five days he enjoyed the hospitality of the Park, which is better known for housing asylum-seekers, after Australia’s government cancelled his visa. On January 10th a federal judge overturned that decision, released him from detention and ordered the government to pay his legal fees.

It is still up in the air whether he will compete in the Australian Open, the tournament which brought him to Melbourne and starts on January 17th. The immigration minister, Alex Hawke, was considering using discretionary powers to cancel Mr Djokovic’s visa a second time as The Economist went to press. The minister has vast authority to remove unwanted foreigners if he deems it to be in the public interest. If he uses those powers to deport Mr Djokovic, the 34-year-old could be banned from returning to Australia for three years.