Novak Djokovic’s parents are from Serbia, father Srijan Djokovic and mother Dijana Djokovic. , photo credit: AFP
Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia urged tennis authorities on Friday to ban Novak Djokovic’s father from the Australian Open after he was photographed with fans carrying Russian flags.
“They should be stripped of their accreditation,” Ambassador Vasyl Myrosnichenko told AFP.
Myroshnychenko also called on Djokovic, who is preparing to face Tommy Paul in the semi-finals of the tournament, to personally apologize and clarify his stance on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“He should apologize for what happened and condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” he demanded.
A video posted on a pro-Russian Australian YouTube account on Thursday showed Djokovic’s father, Srijan, posing with a man holding a Russian flag with Vladimir Putin’s face on it.
The video was captioned: “Novak Djokovic’s father makes bold political statement.”
Serbian tennis journalists confirmed it was Djokovic’s father and the Melbourne Age newspaper reported that he said in Serbian: “Long live Russia.”
Another man was photographed inside the stadium by AFP during Djokovic’s match wearing a T-shirt with a pro-Russian pro-war “Z” symbol.
Last year, Djokovic was deported from Australia for refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19, sparking controversy at the start of the tournament.
Myroshnychenko said the player’s response to the latest controversy would again draw attention to what is happening on the court.
“The last Open was all about Djokovic,” he said. “Now it’s all about the Russian flag and Djokovic too.”
Ukrainian former player Alex Dolgopolov said on Twitter that the flag commotion was “absolutely disgusting”.
Myroshnychenko was instrumental in persuading Australian Open organizers to ban the Russian and Belarusian flags from this year’s Grand Slams.
Sarjan will not participate in Djokovic’s semi-finals
Novak Djokovic’s father Sarjan later said that he would not attend his son’s Australian Open semi-final and would instead “watch from home” after the incident.
“I’m only here to support my son. I had no intention of causing any headlines or disruption,” Djokovic said in an emailed statement.
“So there is no disruption to my son or the other player in tonight’s semi-final I have chosen to watch from home.”
(with inputs from Reuters)