Andrew Castle fumes at 'sinister' and 'heavily politicised' Djokovic ruling

16 January 2022, 09:20

Andrew Castle hits out at Djokovic decision

The cancellation of Novak Djokovic's visa makes 'freedom of speech a thing of the past' in Australia, Andrew Castle declares.

The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia upheld the cancellation of tennis star Novak Djokovic's visa on Sunday morning, meaning the world number one won't be able to defend his Australian Open title.

Read more: 'Extremely disappointed' Djokovic to be booted out of Australia after losing visa case

Andrew Castle was worried by the decision, arguing that the case against Djokovic was built on his principles not matching with "government thinking".

"Can you honestly tell me that if 83% of the public in Australia wanted him to stay, he'd have been kicked out? There's no way."

Andrew Castle: Djokovic decision 'heavily politicised'

He suggested there have been a "vast amount of theatrics" in the saga, with "quite a sinister judgement" at the end.

Andrew clarified that he believes Mr Djokovic's "stance is wrong" and he had been "cavalier" in his attitude, but feared the decision may set a dangerous precedent.

"We all have a right to be stupid, we have a right to be wrong, we have a right to be offensive to a degree. We have a right to just get stuff wrong, and that has been trampled on here."

Andrew Castle reflects on Djokovic's appeal loss

"For me this was a heavily politicised decision" he insisted.

"I'm not buying this 'civic unrest' thing. They're the ones who made him a martyr!"

Andrew concluded that the Australian government and Tennis Australia have "a lot of questions to answer" in the wake of the decision.