Tennis star Novak Djokovic on Wednesday admitted he did not immediately isolate after testing positive for Covid-19 last month – but denied knowing he had the virus when attending public events.
In a statement published to social media, he also apologized for an apparently false travel declaration, saying it had been submitted on his behalf by a member of his support staff in “human error.”
Djokovic added that he had made an “error of judgment” in doing a media interview and photo shoot with a French sports newspaper after he had tested positive.
The journalist and photographer working for L’Equipe were not told Djokovic was Covid-positive before, during or after the interview with the tennis star in Belgrade, the French sports newspaper reported Wednesday.
Meanwhile Australian Border Force (ABF) officials are investigating possible inconsistencies in documents related to Djokovic’s December PCR result as well as the tennis player’s movements in the days after he tested positive for Covid-19 in Serbia, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN Wednesday.
The Australian Border Force (ABF) has not yet determined whether these issues may impact the validity of Djokovic’s current Australian visa, the source said.
On Tuesday, German news outlet Der Spiegel reported possible discrepancies in the digital data attached to Djokovic’s PCR tests. The PCR test documents were filed in court by Djokovic’s lawyers and published online.
Positive and negative results for the same PCR test appeared when Der Spiegel retroactively accessed the results using an attached QR code, the outlet reported.
A CNN contributor and various internet users also reported seeing the same issue. There was no indication what might have caused a discrepancy.
Tests done by CNN Wednesday showed only a positive result, consistent with the documents filed to court.
‘I want to address the continuing misinformation’
Djokovic has been embroiled in controversy since being detained in Australia last week over a visa and vaccination dispute.
He arrived in Melbourne last week and promptly had his visa canceled for entering the country without a valid exemption for the country’s vaccination requirement for all arrivals – but won the legal battle on Monday, with a judge ruling he should be allowed to stay.
But questions have lingered over Djokovic’s behavior – specifically, his positive Covid diagnosis last month before he arrived in Melbourne, and the public events he attended at