Ukraine urges Australian Open to ban Novak Djokovic's father
The Hindu
A video posted to a pro-Russian Australian YouTube account showed Djokovic's father Srdjan posing with a man holding a Russian flag with Vladimir Putin's face on it.
Ukraine's ambassador to Australia on Friday urged tennis officials to ban Novak Djokovic's father from the Australian Open after he was filmed posing with fans holding Russian flags.
"He should be stripped of his accreditation," Ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko told AFP.
Myroshnychenko also called on Djokovic, who is preparing to face Tommy Paul in the semi-finals of the tournament, to personally apologise and to clarify his stance on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
"He should apologise for what has happened, and condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine," he demanded.
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.
The video was captioned: "Novak Djokovic's father makes bold political statement."
Serbian tennis reporters confirmed it was Djokovic's father and the Melbourne Age newspaper reported that he said in Serbian: "Long live Russia."