Novak Djokovic released a statement Wednesday in which he admitted to knowingly attending a media interview last month after testing positive for coronavirus.
The Serbian tennis superstar said the interview and photoshoot was with French sports paper L‘Équipe and he attended while knowingly having coronavirus on the 18th of December.
The player, currently ranker Number 1 in the world, did however insist he cancelled all other interviews and he “ensured” he was “socially distanced” and “wore a mask” except when his photograph was taken.
Djokovic did not apologise but said attending the interview in his “tennis centre in Belgrade” was an “error in judgement”. He added he felt “obliged” to attend so he didn’t let the journalist down.
In the statement Djokovic further denied he attended any other events while knowingly testing positive, which included a basketball game and children’s tennis competition in Belgrade. He also branded other narratives as “misinformation”
This positive PCR test, taken on the 16th of December, has however been revealed to be the reason why Djokovic was able to initially obtain a vaccine medical exemption to enter Australia.
Farage Backs Djokovic Against 'Big, Bullying, Nasty Government' https://t.co/PzRXiygNts
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) January 8, 2022
Djokovic was detained and had his visa revoked by the Australian Border Force after he was initially denied entry into Australia for the Australian Open tennis competition, following the rejection of his medical vaccine exemption, on the 6th of January 2022.
On Monday Australian Circuit Court Judge Anthony Kelly ordered Djokovic to be released from an enforced quarantine hotel in Melbourne, ruling that Djokovic’s vaccine medical exemption – that being testing positive for coronavirus on the 16th of December – was valid.
This however has not guaranteed that Djokovic can stay in Australia, and the Immigration Minister Alex Hawke has said he is considering cancelling his new visa due to incorrect information being supplied.
The second half of Djokovic’s Instagram statement focused on an error made on his travel declaration. Djokovic blamed a team member of making a “human error” when ticking the wrong box declaring Djokovic’s previous travel, as recent social media posts revealed Djokovic had traveled to Spain.
Papers, Please: Novak Djokovic Detention Sparks Australian Investigation into Other Unvaccinated Tennis Players https://t.co/3ZyFfglzG0
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) January 7, 2022
The box ticked indicated that Djokovic had not, or would not, travel in the 14 days before taking his flight to Melbourne.
Djokovic said his team was in contact with the Australian authorities about this but declined to comment any further due to “utmost respect for the Australian government”.
Finishing the statement Djokovic said he just wanted the “opportunity to compete against the best players in the World and perform before one of the best crowds in the world”.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.