World No. 1 Novak Djokovic may have encountered a late snag on his trip to play in the Australian Open, after state government officials refused to support his visa application. Victoria’s acting sports minister, Jaala Pulford, said late on Wednesday that her state had rejected a request for help and visa approvals were a matter for the federal government. Australian media reports said the nine-time Australian Open champion may have submitted a request for the wrong type of visa. He reportedly landed in Melbourne late Wednesday. “The federal government has asked if we will support Novak Djokovic’s visa application to enter Australia. We will not be providing him individual visa application support to participate in the 2022 Australian Open Grand Slam,” Pulford said on Twitter. 

The Australian newspaper said Djokovic was seeking to enter the country on a work visa which “was believed to require the support from the Victorian government”. Melbourne’s The Age newspaper said the federal Border Force had contacted the Victorian government when they realised Djokovic’s team had requested “the wrong type of visa”. Australians reacted with fury on learning that vaccine-sceptic Djokovic had received a medical exemption from a Covid vaccine in order to play at this month’s Open. Tournament chief Craig Tiley said the defending champion had been given “no special favour,” but urged him to reveal why he got the exemption to soothe public anger.