Djokovic admits attending public event while Covid positive

Novak Djokovic has admitted that he knew he was positive for Covid-19 when he attended a photo shoot on December 18 and removed his mask.

The world tennis No 1 said that he attended a photoshoot with the French newspaper L’Equipe in Belgrade even though by then he knew that he was positive for the virus.

“I felt obliged to go ahead and conduct the interview as I didn’t want to let the journalist down but did ensure I socially distanced and wore a mask except when my photograph was being taken,” he said in a statement in Melbourne, where he is practising for the Australian Open. 

“On reflection, this was an error of judgment and I accept that I should have rescheduled this commitment.”

On Monday Djokovic’s family abruptly shut down a Belgrade press conference when journalists began asking questions about his public appearances after he had tested positive for Covd-19. “Everything is public now,” his brother, Djordje, said when questioned about the events.

Alex Hawke, Australia’s immigration minister, has further delayed a decision on whether to cancel Djokovic’s visa again and force him back into immigration detention prior to deportation after new information from the tennis star’s lawyers.

A spokesman for Hawke said: “ Djokovic’s lawyers have recently provided lengthy further submissions and supporting documentation said to be relevant to the possible cancellation of  Djokovic’s visa. Naturally, this will affect the timeframe for a decision.”

Djokovic said that he attended a basketball game on December 14 in Belgrade where a number of people contracted Covid-19. He took a rapid antigen test on December 16, which he said returned a negative result. Then out of caution he took a PCR on the same day.

The following day he attended a tennis event in Belgrade to present children with awards. “I was asymptomatic and felt good,” he said.

He said that he was not notified about the positive result until after the event, but before the photoshoot.

Djokovic also denied that he lied on his entry form to Australia by stating that he had not travelled outside Serbia in the fortnight before he arrived. He said that his “support team” answered no to that question when they should have said yes.

The Australian government is investigating reports that he was in Spain prior to arriving in Australia a week ago. The player was photographed training at Puente Romano Tennis Club in Marbella on December 31.

Jose Manuel Albares, the Spanish foreign minister, said that he had no record of Djokovic visiting Spain and that he had not been contacted by the Australian government.

Djokovic said that his entourage had provided additional information to the Australian government “to clarify” questions over his recent past behaviour and right to be in Australia. He added that reporting about his ordeal had been inaccurate.

The German news website Der Spiegel reported that digital data for Djokovic’s positive PCR Covid-19 test result — on which he has relied as evidence for his exemption — is dated December 26. Djokovic’s documentation for entry had claimed it was December 16. It also claimed that a negative test was quickly followed by a positive one.

Der Spiegel said: “The test results also include QR codes, and when Der Spiegel scanned the QR code for the test from December. 16, things got strange. At 1:19 p.m. on Monday (CET), the result from the scan was ‘test result Negative.’ Such a result would have destroyed Djokovic’s case for being allowed into the country. About an hour later, though, at 2:33 p.m. on Monday, a second scan of the QR code returned a different result: ‘Test result Positive.’ ”