(Sydney) Srdjan Djokovic, at the center of a controversy at the Australian Open linked to pro-Russian supporters, did not attend his son Novak’s semi-final on Friday in Melbourne, so as not to stir up tensions.
“I am here only to support my son,” he wrote in a press release, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, in reaction to the controversy of the last 24 hours.
“I had no intention of making headlines or causing any disruption […]. So that there is no disruption during the semi-final for my son or for his opponent, I chose to watch the match from home”, had finally decided the father of the Serbian superstar.
Earlier, Ukrainian Ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko called on Novak Djokovic, who beat American Tommy Paul in the semi-finals of the tournament on Friday, to personally apologize and clarify his stance on Russia’s invasion of Australia. ‘Ukraine.
“It is important that Novak addresses this situation,” he stressed. “He should apologize for what happened and condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”
A video posted on a pro-Russian Australian YouTube account on Thursday showed Srdjan Djokovic posing outside the stadium with a man holding a Russian flag with President Vladimir Putin’s face on it.
The video was captioned: “Novak Djokovic’s father makes bold political statement”.
“Z” symbol
Serbian sports journalists have confirmed that it was indeed Djokovic father.
Another man was photographed by AFP inside the stadium during a game with Djokovic wearing a T-shirt bearing the Russian pro-war symbol “Z”.
According to the Ukrainian ambassador, this new non-sporting controversy is likely to overshadow Djokovic’s performance at the Australian Open, a year after he was expelled from the country for entering the country without being vaccinated against COVID-19.
“At the last tournament, we only talked about Djokovic,” said the Ukrainian diplomat. “Now we only talk about Russian flags and Djokovic too”.
Former Ukrainian player Alex Dolgopolov, who is currently fighting with his country’s army, called Djokovic father’s behavior on Twitter “absolutely disgusting”.
Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, beaten in the Australian Open semi-finals, called Srdjan Djokovic’s behavior “very shocking”. “I don’t know, I don’t understand, it really hurts and I don’t understand how it can be possible.”
Banned Russian flags
Last week, Ambassador Myroshnychenko helped persuade Australian Open organizers to ban Russian and Belarusian flags from the stands in Melbourne.
The Russian Embassy in Australia called the ban “a new example of unacceptable politicization of sport”.
Simeon Boïkov, an Australian pro-Putin activist behind the YouTube video, had urged Russian fans to descend on Melbourne Park, near the stadium where the tournament is taking place, ahead of Djokovic’s quarter-final against Andrey Rublev Wednesday.
“It is an attack on honor and dignity. It has nothing to do with the war,” he said in a video message, apparently in reference to the ban on Russian flags.
Australia’s opposition leader Peter Dutton called Djokovic’s father’s behavior “bizarre”.
“The Russian onslaught continues and, frankly, anyone of good will should try to deter, not encourage, President Putin,” he told Australia’s Nine Network.
Australian Open organizer Tennis Australia said on Thursday it would continue to work with security services to enforce the rules, without directly mentioning the incident with Srdjan Djokovic.
“Players and their teams have been briefed and reminded of the event’s policy regarding flags and symbols and that they should avoid any situation that could disrupt the tournament,” he said.
Since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia on February 24, 2022, Russian and Belarusian players usually participate in competitions as independents and under neutral white flags. This is the case at the Australian Open.
Last year, however, they were excluded from Wimbledon by the organizers. Novak Djokovic, who has never spoken publicly about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, deplored a “crazy” decision.
“Athletes are there to play sports, if they are taken away from sports just because they come from a given country, it’s a bad decision,” he said.