Novak Djokovic, who missed out on Australian Open 2022 due to his stand on the COVID-19 vaccine, made a commendable comeback at the Melbourne Park – where he has advanced into yet another semi-final and will take on Tommy Paul in the second men’s semi-final. Following Djokovic’s win against Andrey Rublev in the quarter-final, a controversy erupted where Djokovic’s father was filmed posing with fans holding Russian flags.
As reported by AFP, a video posted to a pro-Russian Australian YouTube account on Thursday showed Djokovic’s father Srdjan posing with a man holding a Russian flag with Vladimir Putin’s face on it. “Novak Djokovic’s father makes bold political statement,” the caption of the video read.
Soon after the video surfaced online, Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko on Friday urged tennis officials to ban Novak Djokovic’s father from the Australian Open. He also urged Djokovic to apologise for the incident.
“He should be stripped of his accreditation. He should apologise for what has happened, and condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” Myroshnychenko told AFP.
As a result of the furore, Djokovic’s father issued a statement where he said he had no intention of causing any disruption
“I am here to support my son only. I had no intention of causing such headlines or disruption,” Srdjan Djokovic said in a statement after the images led to calls for him to be banned from the tournament.
Sharing his stand on his photographs with the Russian fans, Srdjan Djokovic said he just took pictures to celebrate his son’s wins like he has done throughout his career.
“My family has lived through the horror of war and we wish only for peace. As I have done after all of my son’s matches to celebrate his wins and take pictures with them. I had no intention of being caught up in this. I wish for a great match and I will be cheering for my son, as always,” Djokovic senior added.
Earlier, tournament organiser Tennis Australia said it would continue to work with security to enforce entry rules.
“After the events of Wednesday night, we acted swiftly to work with police and our security teams to have the instigators of the protest removed from the venue,” it said in a statement.
“Throughout the event we’ve spoken with players and their teams about the importance of not engaging in any activity that causes distress or disruption.”
