Novak Djokovic’s father has been filmed posing with followers brandishing pro-Russian flags on the Australian Open in scenes Ukraine’s ambassador Thursday slammed as “a shame”. The Serbian star had simply booked his place within the event semi-final with a straight units thumping of Russian opponent Andrey Rublev in Rod Laver Enviornment on Wednesday evening. After the match a bunch of followers unfurled Russian flags close to the stadium, together with one that includes Vladimir Putin’s face, chanting pro-Russian slogans.
Tennis Australia mentioned 4 folks “revealed inappropriate flags and symbols and threatened safety guards”. Police had been known as and so they had been ejected from Melbourne Park.
A video later posted to a pro-Russian Australian YouTube account confirmed Djokovic’s father Srdjan posing with a person holding the Putin flag.
It was captioned: “Novak Djokovic’s father makes daring political assertion.”
That is…fairly a multitude for the #AusOpen, to say the least.
Srdjan Djokovic posing with the pro-Putin rally final evening simply outdoors Rod Laver Enviornment.
The degrees of safety breakdowns that allowed for this are staggering.
Story/video by way of @jamesgraysport: pic.twitter.com/qnOx3MGYqB
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) January 26, 2023
Appears he was not the one one. @TennisAustralia
What is going on on there? https://t.co/ZuAQ1kNHmU— Alex Dolgopolov (@TheDolgo) January 25, 2023
Serbian tennis reporters confirmed it was Djokovic’s father and the Melbourne Age newspaper reported he mentioned in Serbian: “Lengthy dwell Russia.”
Spectators are banned from having Russian or Belarusian flags on the Grand Slam after Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia and New Zealand, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, demanded motion after they had been seen among the many crowd final week.
He mentioned on Twitter Thursday that the newest incident was shameful.
“It is a full bundle. Among the many Serbian flags, there may be: a Russian flag, Putin, Z-symbol, so-called Donetsk Folks’s Republic flag,” he tweeted with a hyperlink to the video.
“It is such a shame … @TennisAustralia @AustralianOpen.”
One other man was photographed by AFP contained in the stadium throughout Djokovic’s match with a pro-war “Z” image T-shirt — related to help for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian and Belarusian gamers have usually competed beneath a impartial white flag as independents, as is the case on the Australian Open.
(This story has not been edited by String Reveals employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Featured Video Of The Day
“Request PM Modi To Shut Wrestling Federation”: Former Coach
Matters talked about on this article
