Djokovic addresses claims he misled Australian officials — RT Sport News

Novak Djokovich has known as an “error of judgment” his resolution to attend an interview with a newspaper after testing constructive for Covid-19, however dismissed a separate journey declaration mixup as an “administrative mistake.”

Regardless of rising victorious from his most up-to-date authorized battle with the Australian authorities after a federal courtroom reinstated his visa, the tennis world number-one continues to be not out of the woods. He’s now being investigated by the Australia Border Drive over claims he supplied incorrect data on his journey declaration to enter the nation.

Addressing the allegations in an announcement on Wednesday, Djokovich appeared to confess that he certainly misstated some data on his journey type, whereas claiming it was as a consequence of oversight and never as a result of he meant to mislead the Australian authorities.

“My agent sincerely apologises for the executive mistake in ticking the wrong field about my earlier journey earlier than coming to Australia,” the Serb wrote, describing the blunder as “a human error” which was “definitely not deliberate.”

“We live in difficult occasions in a world pandemic and typically these errors can happen,” Djokovich went on. He added that his workforce has already submitted the lacking data to authorities “to make clear this matter.”

Djokovich was apparently referring to his travels previous to his much-publicized arrival in Melbourne final Wednesday. Accomplished by the participant’s agent, the declaration acknowledged that he had not travelled within the 14 days previous to his arrival, whereas it later emerged that he attended occasions in Serbia and educated in Spain on the finish of December earlier than coming to Australia through transit in Dubai. 

Individually, Djokovich addressed rumours that he was not self-isolating after testing constructive for Covid-19 in his native Serbia. The tennis ace mentioned that he took each a fast antigen and a PCR check on December 16, and whereas his fast antigen check got here again destructive, he didn’t obtain the results of his PCR check earlier than he attended a tennis occasion in Belgrade on the next day, although it in the end turned up constructive.

Djokovich, nevertheless, appeared to specific regret over his resolution to go to an interview and a photoshoot on December 18, a day after he discovered he examined constructive for the coronavirus.

Noting that his interview with French sport every day L’Equipe was a “long-standing dedication,” Djokovich mentioned that he “felt obliged to go forward…as I didn’t wish to let the journalist down.” He claimed that he saved distance from the reporter through the dialog, and was masked up the complete time, save for the second his image was taken.

“On reflection, this was an error of judgment and I settle for that I ought to have rescheduled this dedication,” he wrote.

The nine-time Australian Open champion indicated that the assertion he put out on Wednesday can be his ultimate touch upon the controversy surrounding his visa debacle, including that “it’s all the time an honor and a privilege to play within the Australian Open.”

The Serbian star triggered a full-blown diplomatic scandal between his residence nation and Australia after he was detained by the Australian immigration authorities, who discovered {that a} medical exemption he obtained from Tennis Australia was not ample to grant him entry and cancelled his visa. Solely totally vaccinated non-Australian residents or those that obtained a medical exemption can enter the nation beneath Canberra’s strict pandemic coverage. Djokovic, who has lengthy rallied towards Covid-19 vaccination mandates, efficiently appealed his visa cancellation on Monday, and is at the moment coaching in hopes to play on the Australian Open set to kick off subsequent Monday.

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