Continuing the seemingly never-ending saga of Novak Djokovic attempting to play in the Australian Open, the top-ranked men’s tennis player admitted Wednesday that a travel document he presented to Australian border officials last week contained erroneous information.
The acknowledgement came as the country’s authorities were investigating whether he should be deported with regards to his COVID-19 vaccination—or lack thereof—status.
Djokovic also revealed that he had attended a basketball game and then participated in an interview and photo shoot last month in Serbia despite testing positive for COVID—a breach of the country’s rules. Australian officials are looking into whether he poses public-health risk.
It’s not the first time Djokovic has run afoul of rules during the pandemic. In mid-2020, he held a tennis tournament after which he and several others tested positive for COVID.
Djokovic’s statement says that he “had not received the notification of a positive PCR result” until December 17, after the event involving children, documents he provided to Australian officials say otherwise. Officials say the Serbian government will “deal with it” if it turns out Djokovic lied.
Also addressed were questions about the declaration he made on his visa paperwork that he had not traveled to any other countries in the 14 days before arriving in Australia. He said his agent made an “administrative mistake in ticking the incorrect box.”
“This was a human error and certainly not deliberate,” he said, adding that his team on Wednesday had “provided additional information to the Australian government to clarify the matter.”
Djokovic’s lawyers had made “lengthy further submissions and supporting documentation said to be relevant to the possible cancellation of Djokovic’s visa.”
Don’t look for this messy situation to be cleared up any time soon.
