A court invader interrupted the Australian Open final between Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev in a protest against refugee detention in the wake of the Novak Djokovic saga.
Djokovic was dramatically refused entry to Australia upon arrival in Melbourne for the Grand Slam event earlier this month after having his visa rejected by border control officials.
The world No. 1 was then quickly moved to a quarantine hotel in the city, which was also being used as a detention centre for refugees.
Protests for both Djokovic’s and the held refugees took place outside the hotel, whilst the Serbian was detained.
Djokovic has since been deported from the country after two failed attempts to remain and compete down under, however protests surrounding the freedom of the refugees in the quarantine hotel have gone on.
As a result, one protester took to the court during Nadal and Medvedev's final battle on Sunday, as he invaded the court with a banner reading ‘abolish refugee detention’.
Following invasion the protester was quickly apprehended by the arena security, where he reportedly took a nasty looking fall.
Aussie tennis legend John Fitzgerald revealed on commentary that the protester appeared to be injured as he commented: “Wouldn’t surprise me if he hurt himself, that guy.
“He’s not using his legs too well right now… Great job by the security here.”
Whilst it is unknown if the protester is related to any organisation, refugee advocacy group Fight Together for Justice took to Twitter to praise the invader.
They tweeted: “The indefinite torture of refugees is happening right now meters away from the game, and it’s not being televised.
“Shame on all that are complicit in this ongoing regime.”
Activist group ‘Close theCamps’ also took to social media to offer their support to the protest.
They wrote: “Refugees supporter at #AusOpen acts in solidarity with Australia’s political prisoners indefinitely detained at #ParkHotel & other Immigration detention centres, onshore & offshore. #FreeTheRefugees#Justice4Refugees.”
They then added: “Australia claims its sporting heroes but hides its shame in detention centres.
“It has the highest incarceration rate of Indigenous people, inc children & leads world in human rights abuse of Refugees in indefinite detention.”
