Serbian authorities claim Djokovic was "lured to Australia to be humiliated"

With Novak Djokovic awaiting possible deportation at a hotel in Melbourne, several Serbian politicians and celebrities believe the Belgrade native is being treated in a shameful manner and is being used as a scapegoat.

The 34-year-old champion, who was born in the Serb capital, is in detention in an immigration hotel in Melbourne pending a legal challenge to Australia’s decision on Wednesday to cancel a visa allowing him to play in the Australian Open.

The president of the Serbian parliament, Ivica Dačić, said Djokovic was enduring “despicable political harassment”.

"Any country in the world “would gladly give citizenship to Mr Djokovic, let alone let him visit for a tournament," Dačić stated. He would go on to call Australia’s behavior “shameful” and the result of “political instability in that country since elections are approaching”.

The Serbian foreign ministry said in a statement that the Serbian public “has a strong impression that Djokovic is a victim of a political game against his will, and that he was lured to travel to Australia in order to be humiliated”.

It added: “Novak Djokovic is not a criminal, terrorist or illegal migrant, but he was treated that way by the Australian authorities, which is causing understandable indignation of his fans and citizens of Serbia.”

Furthermore, acclaimed Serbian film-maker Emir Kusturica argued Djokovic’s detention was “not just a lesson to the noble Serb”, but to everyone.

Kusturica said the “arrest of Novak Djokovic, first among the free, a rebel who does not want the chains of the new world and believes in a more just order” recalled the plot of a movie in which prominent citizens were arrested as a lesson to the rest.