MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2023) Ukrainian Ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko on Friday called on the organizers of the 2023 Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne to ban Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic's father from appearing in the stands until the end of the event over a controversy with Russia supporters.
After Djokovic's victory over Russia's Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Wednesday, Srdjan Djokovic appeared in a video with Russian supporters. One of the men in the video was wearing a T-shirt with the letter "Z," associated with the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, and was holding a Russian flag with President Vladimir Putin's portrait.
"It's unacceptable, it's a disgrace for the tournament. There must be sanctions imposed. It's important to ask Novak Djokovic his opinion on the situation," Myroshnychenko said, as quoted by ABC news.
On January 16, Russian fans waved the country's flag in the stands during a match between Russian tennis player Kamilla Rakhimova and Ukraine's Kateryna Baindl, causing discontent among supporters of the Ukrainian athlete.
In March 2022, the International Tennis Federation suspended the Russian and Belarusian tennis federations and canceled all tournaments in these countries under the auspices of the organization in response to Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine. Russian and Belarusian athletes can compete in tournaments under the auspices of the Association of Tennis Professionals and the Women's Tennis Association as neutral athletes.
