(ANSA-AFP) - MELBOURNE, JAN 27 - Tennis ace Novak Djokovic's
father said he will stay away from his son's Australian Open
semi-final Friday, insisting he "wishes only for peace" after
being filmed with fans holding Russian flags. "I am here to
support my son only. I had no intention of causing such
headlines or disruption," Srdjan Djokovic said in a statement
after the images led to calls for him to be banned from the
tournament. "My family has lived through the horror of war and
we wish only for peace," he said. Srdjan Djokovic made no
mention of whether he would attend the Grand Slam final on
Sunday if his son won Friday's match. A video posted to a
pro-Russian Australian YouTube account on Thursday showed
Djokovic's father posing with a man holding a Russian flag with
Vladimir Putin's face on it. The video was captioned: "Novak
Djokovic's father makes bold political statement." Another man
was photographed by AFP inside the stadium during Djokovic's
match with a T-shirt bearing the Russian pro-war "Z" symbol.
Srdjan Djokovic said he was outside with his son's fans "as I
have done after all of my son's matches to celebrate his wins
and take pictures with them". "I had no intention of being
caught up in this." (ANSA-AFP).
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Djokovic's father skips Melbourne after flag controversy
"I am here to support my son only"