Ukraine’s ambassador to Canberra on Friday demanded that Australian Open organizers withdraw the accreditation of the father of Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic, who was filmed with supporters waving pro-Russian flags.
“He should have his accreditation withdrawn. It’s up to Novak and his team to take charge and sort this out,” Ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko told AFP.
Mr Myroshnychenko also called on Novak Djokovic, who was set to face American Tommy Paul in the semi-finals of the tournament on Friday, to personally apologize and clarify his position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“It’s important that Novak addresses this situation,” he said. 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, the player’s father, posing outside the stadium 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 sports journalists have confirmed that it was indeed Djokovic-father.
Another man was photographed by AFP inside the stadium during a Djokovic game wearing a T-shirt bearing the pro-war Russian symbol “Z”.
Tournament organizer Tennis Australia said on Thursday it would continue to work with security to enforce entry rules, without directly mentioning the incident with Djokovic’s father.
Spectators are banned from Russian or Belarusian flags during the tournament.
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