{"id":74899,"date":"2022-01-12T20:59:52","date_gmt":"2022-01-12T20:59:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=74899"},"modified":"2022-01-12T20:59:52","modified_gmt":"2022-01-12T20:59:52","slug":"djokovic-admits-meeting-journalist-when-he-had-covid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=74899","title":{"rendered":"Djokovic admits meeting journalist when he had Covid"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Sports Desk:<\/strong> Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic on Wednesday admitted meeting a journalist when he knew he had Covid-19, describing it as an “error of judgement”.<\/p>\n

Djokovic also conceded he submitted a false declaration to the Australian government about his travel history between flying to Melbourne, though he blamed it on his agent.<\/p>\n

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The comments were in a statement posted to Instagram aimed at addressing the controversies surrounding his efforts to play at the Australian Open while being unvaccinated.<\/p>\n

Despite the admissions, Djokovic insisted other reports about him appearing in public following his positive test for Covid-19 as “misinformation”.<\/p>\n

He said the reports of his public appearances after his claimed infection were “very hurtful” to his family.<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old world number one entered Australia last week with a vaccine exemption due to a positive test for Covid-19 on December 16.<\/p>\n

The following day, however, he appeared without a mask at the launch of a Serbian stamp bearing his image and at an event in Belgrade for young tennis players.<\/p>\n

Djokovic said he only received the positive results of the PCR test for Covid-19 infection on December 17, after the youth tennis event.<\/p>\n

He made no mention of the stamp ceremony.<\/p>\n

The player said he had a negative rapid antigen test on December 16 and then had the PCR test out of an “abundance of caution”.<\/p>\n

The following day, he took a second rapid antigen test, which was also negative, before going to the children's tennis event.<\/p>\n

“I was asymptomatic and felt good, and I had not received the notification of a positive PCR test until after that event,” he said.<\/p>\n

But Djokovic admitted that he also went ahead with an interview and photoshoot with French sports newspaper L'Equipe on December 18.<\/p>\n

“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 except when my photograph was being taken,” he said.<\/p>\n

“On reflection, this was an error of judgement and I accept that I should have rescheduled this commitment.”<\/p>\n

Australian media have also focused heavily on the accuracy of Djokovic's travel declaration, reportedly filled out before he flew in from Spain.<\/p>\n

A copy of his declaration showed a tick in the box to confirm he had not and would not travel in the 14 days before landing in Australia on January 5.<\/p>\n

But the player had reportedly been in Serbia before Spain.<\/p>\n

“On the issue of my travel declaration, this was submitted by my support team on my behalf,” Djokovic said on Instagram.<\/p>\n

“My agent sincerely apologises for the administrative mistake in ticking the incorrect box about my previous travel before coming to Australia.<\/p>\n

“This was a human error and certainly not deliberate.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sports Desk: Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic on Wednesday admitted meeting a journalist when he knew he had Covid-19, describing it as an “error of judgement”. Djokovic also conceded he submitted a false declaration to the Australian government about his travel history between flying to Melbourne, though he blamed it on his agent. The comments were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n