Novak Djokovic has refuted reports he was deliberatley out in the community after testing positive to COVID-19, slamming it as “misinformation”.
However, he has admitted he conducted an interview in the knowledge he was infected with COVID-19, also blaming “human error” on his agent’s behalf for issues with his visa application.
It was revealed during Djokovic’s court defence that the Serbian tested positive on December 16, just two weeks before his arrival in Australia, with that used as grounds for his medical exemption to play at the Australian Open.
However, he was photographed at a tennis event handing awards to children on December 17, while also completing an interview with L’Equipe on December 18.
Djokovic has been publicly sceptical about COVID in the past and the possibility was raised he did not care he had tested positive.
Questions were also raised about the validity of his positive test, however the World No.1 has given his side of the story.
Taking to Instagram on Wednesday afternoon, Djokovic’s statement suggests he didn’t know he was positive at the tennis event on December 17.
“I want to address the continuing misinformation about my activities and attendance at events in December in the lead up to my positive PCR COVID test result,” he said via a statement.
“This is misinformation which needs to be corrected, particularly in the interest of alleviating broader concern in the community about my presence in Australia, and to address matters which are very hurtful and concerning to my family.
“I want to emphasise that I have tried very hard to ensure the safety of everyone and my compliance with the testing obligations.
“I attended a basketball game in Belgrade on December 14 after which it was reported that a number of people tested positive with COVID 19.
“Despite having no COVID symptoms, I took a rapid antigen test on December 16 which was negative, and out of an abundance of caution, also took an official and approved PCR Test on that same day.
“The next day I attended a tennis event in Belgrade to present awards to children and took a rapid antigen test before going to the event, and it was negative.
“I was asymptomatic and felt good, and I had not received the notification of a positive PCR test result until after that event.”
However, he admitted he did know he was positive before his interview on December 18 but forged because he felt “obliged”.
The 34-year-old apologised for that “error of judgement”.
“The next day, on December 18 I was at my tennis centre in Belgrade to fulfil a long-standing commitment for a L’Equipe interview and photoshoot. I cancelled all other events exempt for the interview,” he continued.
“I felt obliged to go ahead and conduct the L’Equipe interview as I didn’t want to let the journalist down but did ensure I socially distanced and wore a mask exempt when my photograph was being taken.
“While I went home after the interview to isolate for the required period, on reflection, this was an error in judgment and I accept that I should have rescheduled this commitment.”
He also spoke about the issues on his visa application that led to his court case on Monday, apologising for the administrative error made by his agent.
“On the issue of my travel declaration, this was submitted by my support team on my behalf – as I told immigration officials on my arrival – and my agent sincerely apologies for the administrative mistake in ticking the incorrect box about my previous travel before coming to Australia,” Djokovic said.
“This was a human error and certainly not deliberate. We are living in challenging times in a global pandemic and sometimes these mistakes an occur. Today, my team has provided addition information to the Australian Government to clarify this matter.”
It has also been reported that the URL on Djokovic’s PCR COVID-19 test from the Institute of Public Health of Serbia, which was used as part of his court defence, suggests the test was taken more recently on the 26th of December.
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