Australian Open Chief Tells Djokovic Family: 'Be Really Careful'

Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 21, 2023 Serbia's Novak Djokovic shakes hands with Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov after winning his third round match REUTERS/Loren Elliott
Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 21, 2023 Serbia's Novak Djokovic shakes hands with Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov after winning his third round match REUTERS/Loren Elliott
TT

Australian Open Chief Tells Djokovic Family: 'Be Really Careful'

Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 21, 2023 Serbia's Novak Djokovic shakes hands with Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov after winning his third round match REUTERS/Loren Elliott
Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 21, 2023 Serbia's Novak Djokovic shakes hands with Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov after winning his third round match REUTERS/Loren Elliott

Australian Open chief Craig Tiley on Saturday advised Novak Djokovic's family to be "really careful" of people using the tournament's global exposure as a platform for "disruptive" purposes.

It follows a video posted on a pro-Russian YouTube account showing Djokovic's father Srdjan posing in Melbourne Park with a fan holding a Russian flag that featured the face of Vladimir Putin.

It sparked a backlash from Ukraine and led to calls for Djokovic senior to be banned from the tournament.

He decided to skip his son's semi-final victory on Friday and it remains to be seen if he will be at Sunday's final.

Tiley told the Melbourne Age newspaper he had spent "a fair amount of time talking to the Djokovic family,” AFP reported.

"My advice is that you have to be really careful because if this is an event of global significance, it's a platform," he said he told them.

"When you have hundreds of thousands of people come through the gate, you're going to naturally have some people that are coming here with an intention to be disruptive, and don't get yourself caught in the middle of that.

"And they completely understand that," he added. "The family were very good. They were upset that it was taken that way. There was no intention of it.

"His dad particularly does not support war and they're very focused on supporting peace."

Serbian star Djokovic insisted after his semi-final win there had been a "misinterpretation" of the images and his father had "no intention whatsoever to support any war initiatives".

He said his father had been greeting fans outside Rod Laver Arena after every match and had been "misused" on Wednesday night.

Tiley said the Open had more than 1,000 accredited journalists and growing TV audiences and "it does become a platform and that's new for us. It never used to be like that".

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year, Russian and Belarusian players have normally competed under a neutral white flag as independents, as is the case at the Australian Open.

Spectators have been banned from having Russian or Belarusian flags at the Grand Slam after Ukraine's ambassador to Australia and New Zealand demanded action when they were seen among the crowd early in the tournament.



Saudi Arabia’s Participation in Paris Olympics Part of Quality of Life Program, Al-Bakr Says

The efforts of the sports system have combined to achieve the strategic goal assigned by Vision 2030 to the Quality of Life Program. (SPA)
The efforts of the sports system have combined to achieve the strategic goal assigned by Vision 2030 to the Quality of Life Program. (SPA)
TT

Saudi Arabia’s Participation in Paris Olympics Part of Quality of Life Program, Al-Bakr Says

The efforts of the sports system have combined to achieve the strategic goal assigned by Vision 2030 to the Quality of Life Program. (SPA)
The efforts of the sports system have combined to achieve the strategic goal assigned by Vision 2030 to the Quality of Life Program. (SPA)

CEO of Saudi Arabia’s Quality of Life Program Khalid bin Abdullah Al-Bakr said on Friday the Kingdom’s participation in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games is part of integrated and comprehensive efforts to build a distinguished future for the sports sector in the Kingdom.

This will help reach the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 in achieving sports excellence and building a vital and stimulating sports sector for young Saudi men and women.

Al-Bakr said the participation reflects the support of the country’s wise leadership for the sports sector, as well as the efforts made by the Ministry of Sports and the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee to develop the sector under the supervision of Sports Minister and Chairman of the Olympic and Paralympic Committee Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki bin Faisal.

The efforts of the sports system have combined to achieve the strategic goal assigned by Vision 2030 to the Quality of Life Program, which is “achieving excellence in several sports regionally and globally” by launching several initiatives on supporting and empowering Saudi athletes and contributing to increasing the number of athletes participating in the Olympic Games.

Since its launch in 2018, the program has offered many initiatives to develop the sports sector, Al-Bakr said. He cited the Elite Athletes Development Program, which trained and empowered Saudi players participating in the Paris Olympics, in addition to initiatives concerned with supporting and empowering women to contribute to the sports system, the Saudi Games, and building sports academies, including the establishment of Mahd Academy.

The program seeks to discover, develop, and support sports talents with the aim of creating a sports generation capable of competing in and representing the Kingdom in various regional and international events, he added.