Australia cancels Djokovic's visa for second time

World tennis number one Novak Djokovic is still hoping to play in the Australian Open

Novak Djokovic has had his permission to stay in Australia removed again just days before the Australian Open is due to begin.

His official permission to enter - known as a visa - has been cancelled by the Australian government.

The men's tennis number one now faces being forced to leave the country - known as being deported.

The nine-time Australian Open winner was hoping to defend his title next week, which if he won, would make him the most successful male tennis player in history with a record 21 Grand Slam titles.

It's a long and complicated story that is tied up with the strict coronavirus rules in Australia - and has already had many twists and turns.

Read on to find out the latest and what it means.

What's the background?

Since winning his initial appeal Djokovic has been practising for the tournament

Ahead of the Australian Open, reigning champ Novak Djokovic was given special permission to enter Australia to play - a exemption - even though he wasn't vaccinated.

That led to a lot of public anger over the decision - more than 90 per cent of Australia's adult population is fully vaccinated, but some people are not allowed to travel outside the country or even between states due to coronavirus restrictions.

Many people felt that showed it was one rule for the famous and another for ordinary people.

Then Djokovic's visa was cancelled shortly after his arrival in Melbourne on 6 January, after officials said he had "failed to provide appropriate evidence" to receive a exemption - and he was held at a hotel while his lawyers appealed the case.

Djokovic won that appeal as the judge found that he wasn't treated fairly during the process. However, the Australian immigration minister - who is in charge of who can come in and go out of the country - still had the power to force him to leave.

Since then other evidence has emerged including photos of him attending events in Serbia after he said he tested positive - which could have broken rules in that country - and photos showing he was in Spain before coming to Australia even though he said on his form that he had not travelled anywhere in the 14 days before his arrival in Australia.

Mr Djokovic said the first was an error of judgement and the other was a mistake on the form by his agent and wasn't deliberate.

What has been said?

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison says his government have cancelled the visa to protect the sacrifices made by Australians

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said his government cancelled Novak Djokovic's visa a second time to protect Australia's hard-won gains against the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Australians have made many sacrifices during this pandemic, and they rightly expect the result of those sacrifices to be protected," Mr Morrison said in a statement.

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke said in a statement: "Today I exercised my power... to cancel the visa held by Mr Novak Djokovic on health and good order grounds, on the basis that it was in the public interest to do so,"

What happens next?

Well at the moment, Djokovic has been told his visa has been cancelled which means he can't take part in the Australian Open and he will need to leave the country.

Being deported in this way could also lead to him being banned from Australia for up to three years,

However - as before - Djokovic's lawyers are allowed to appeal the decision.