A private conversation between two anchors while they were off-air is making rounds on social media platforms in which they were heard criticising Tennis player Novak Djokovic. Rebecca Maddern and Mike Amor, newsreaders for Channel 7, called Djokovic a ‘lying, sneaky a**hole’ in the leaked video. The leaked video is possibly from Tuesday night’s 6 PM bulletin.
Mike Amor and Bec Maddern forgetting the camera/mic is always on 🤣🤣🤣 #Djokovic pic.twitter.com/shre3hZpH8
— #OkBoomers🥉 (@MelbTigerTalk) January 11, 2022
While talking about Djokovic, Maddern said, “Novak Djokovic is a lying, sneaky, a**hole”. She further added, “Whatever way you look at it, it’s unfortunate that everybody else stuffed up around him,” to which Amor said, “That’s it.”
The channel has initiated a probe to find out who leaked the footage. Craig McPherson, Seven’s Director of News and Public Affairs, said in a statement, “The illegal recording was of a private conversation between two colleagues.” He further added, “It was an underhanded, cowardly act in breach of the Victorian Listening Devices legislation, the perpetrator of which will be accordingly dealt with when found.”
Novak Djokovic admitted ‘errors’ in his travel papers.
The newsreaders’ rant was a reaction to the reports that Djokovic has admitted there were errors in his travel documents. The 20-times Grand Slam winner had said in his declaration that he had a medical reason not to get the Covid-19 vaccine. When Australian authorities decided to cancel his Visa, Djokovic approached the Federal court and got the decision overturned.
Notably, on Wednesday, the ace tennis player admitted there were errors in his travel papers. He said his team had offered fresh information to the authorities in Australia. In a statement, he said, “We are living in challenging times in a global pandemic, and sometimes these mistakes can occur.”
Djokovic had travelled to Melbourne a week ago while claiming that as he was tested positive for Covid-19 on December 16, he did not need vaccination. Contrary to his claim, the border agents rejected the exemption and said the recent infection did not qualify. His visa was cancelled, and the Tennis player was sent to the detention centre.
However, his legal team got the decision overturned in court on Monday. Now, Alex Hawke, Immigration Minister, has said in a statement that Djokovic’s visa could be cancelled another time in the light of fresh doubts.
Reportedly, Djokovic had described reports about his positive report as “misinformation”. He was seen attending a youth tennis event a day after his positive test in Serbia. He was honoured at the ceremony. Djokovic did not mention the stamp ceremony but only said he received PCR test results after attending the event.
Novak Djokovic admits “errors” in his travel papers and in his behaviour after a claimed coronavirus infection as he battles to stay in Australia and fight for a record 21st Grand Slam #AusOpen https://t.co/zCfbqx6H6Z pic.twitter.com/OeFRrnH8Ut
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) January 12, 2022
He further admitted to attending an interview and photoshoot with French Sports newspaper L’Equipe on December 18. He said, “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.” Calling it an error of judgement, he said, “I should have rescheduled this commitment.”
He also admitted ticking a box where he indicated he would not travel in the 14 days before flying to Melbourne. The social media posts and reports had shown he travelled to Spain during that period. He said, “This was submitted by my support team on my behalf – as I told immigration officials on my arrival.” He further added, “My agent sincerely apologises for the administrative mistake in ticking the incorrect box about my previous travel before coming to Australia. This was a human error and certainly not deliberate.”
Though there would be several appeals open for both the Australian government and Djokovic but the Immigration Minister holds power to cancel his visa.
