Novak Djokovic 'probably didn't know' he had COVID-19 when he was in public, mother claims

On Monday, the Australian Federal Court ruled in favour of the Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic and allowed him to compete in the Australian Open. However, amidst the fiasco involving Novak Djokovic's detention at the Australian airport, shocking reports have emerged that contain unverified images of him attending a PR event in December, a day after his lawyers claimed he had tested positive for COVID. As per the reports, he was attending a junior players event in Belgrade on December 17 without a mask.

According to the court filings, Novak Djokovic tested positive for COVID on December 16, which was more than three weeks before arriving in Australia. However, the Belgrade tennis federation put up a Facebook post after the December 17 ceremony where they posted unverified images of Djokovic handing out cups and awards to the best young players in 2021. As per the federation's statement, the event held at the Novak tennis centre was attended only by the award winners "due to epidemiological measures related to the coronavirus pandemic."

Djokovic's mother claims the tennis star 'didn't know' he had COVID

Novak's mother Dijana Djokovic, claimed that the 20-time Grand Slam winner probably did not know he had tested positive at the time he attended the event. "He didn’t know, probably. He didn’t know it because when he realised that he (was) positive then he (went) to isolate because he didn’t know," she said. "I really cannot say anything about that, but it’s maybe the best to ask him," said Dijana Djokovic on Channel Seven’s Sunrise. 

Djokovic's medical exemption for the Australian Open

Novak Djokovic's lawyers contended in an Australian court that the Serbian tennis player had been granted a medical exemption because of his recent COVID-19 illness. "Mr Djokovic had received, on 30 December 2021, a letter from the Chief Medical Officer of Tennis Australia ('Exemption Certificate') recording that he had been provided with a 'Medical exemption from COVID vaccination' on the ground that he had recently recovered from COVID. The date of the first positive COVID PCR test was recorded on 16 December 2021, it had now been 14 days, and Mr Djokovic had not had a fever or respiratory symptoms of COVID-19 in the last 72 hours," the court filing read. 

Image: AP