Novak Djokovic was reminded of Australian Open ban on pro-Russia symbols after his father was filmed posing next to a group of spectators carrying Russian flags and wearing a pro-war “Z” emblem on Wednesday night.
Victoria Police confirmed four men were evicted from Melbourne Park after the group chanted pro-Russia slogans and waved flags outside Rod Laver Arena. One of the flags has by Vladimir Putin face it.
Before supporters were kicked out, 62-year-old Srdjan Djokovic met fans outside the arena and posed for pictures with one wearing a T-shirt with Symbol “Z” and carried a flag with the image of the Russian president.
In a video uploaded by pro-Putin Aussie Cossack YouTube account, Srdjan appears to have said “Long live the Russians”. The man standing next to him in the clip also wears the company’s logo Night wolf—a leather motorsport gang that supports Putin.
The video itself is addressed to the international president of the gang, Alexander Zaldostanov. Zaldostanov, believed to be Putin’s personal friend, was sanctioned by the EU in 2022 for propagandizing the gang’s invasion of Ukraine.
Simeon Boikov, who runs the Aussie Cossack channel, is a pro-Kremlin activist who is accused of assaulting a 76-year-old man at a Sydney rally in support of Ukraine in December. Arrest warrant Boikov’s detention was issued this week after he failed to appear in court while seeking refuge in the Russian consulate.
The clip with Srdjan came after Tennis Australia banned the Russian flag from the Open after some fans mocked the Ukrainian player Kateryna Baindl with the flag in her first match against Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova last week.
A spokesperson for Tennis Australia said in a statement: “Players and their teams have been informed and reminded of the event policy regarding flags and symbols and to avoid any potentially disruptive situations. discontinuity. “We continue to work closely with law enforcement and event security agencies.”
“It’s a full package,” tweeted Vasyl Myroshnychenko, Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia and New Zealand, responded to a video showing pro-Russia fans at the tournament. “Among the flags of Serbia are: a Russian flag, Putin, the symbol Z, the so-called flag of the Donetsk People’s Republic. It is a disgrace.”
Djokovic’s father controversy comes a year after Novak made his own title at Australian Open in an argument over vaccination rules that he was eventually expelled from the country.
