Novak Djokovic is no stranger to controversy. A year ago, the Serbian tennis star was deported from Australia after failing to comply with the country’s covid vaccination rules. Organisers of the Australian Open are once again fighting fires relating to Djokovic.
This time, it is Djokovic’s father, Srdjan, who is in trouble after he posed with supporters of Russian president Vladimir Putin outside the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne. Djokovic senior was pictured with a man holding a Russian flag emblazoned with Putin’s face, and wearing a T-shirt printed with the pro-war Z symbol. In a video recording of the incident, Srdjan appears to say ‘Long live the Russians’. The Aussie Cossack YouTube channel, where the clip first appeared, is run by Simeon Boikov, a pro-Russian activist, who is accused of assaulting a man at a Ukraine rally in Sydney last month.
After the clip was filmed, four fans were evicted by police after chanting pro-Russia and pro-Putin slogans.
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