The Serbian Council of Australia (SCOFA) have submitted a formal complaint to the Human Rights Commission following controversial comments made by Channel 9 presenter Tony Jones directed at Novak Djokovic.
Jones, 63, is a well-known figure in Australian media who has hosted the Australian Open via the Channel 9 studio since the network secured the rights starting from 2020.
Click here to watch live tennis on Stan Sport.
It took a twist on Sunday night when Djokovic refused to answer questions in the traditional on-court interview with Jim Courier, later explaining his stance during his post-match press conference.
"Couple days ago, the famous sports journalist who works for [the] official broadcaster, Channel 9 here in Australia, made a mockery of Serbian fans and also made insulting and offensive comments towards me. Since then, he chose not to issue any public apology. Neither did Channel 9. So since they're official broadcasters, I chose not to give interviews for Channel 9," said the 24-time Grand Slam winner.
Following the recent developments, the SCOFA issued a statement which defended Djokovic and the Australian-Serbian community, while calling for Jones to face severe punishment.
"A complaint has been lodged with the Human Rights Commission in relation to Mr Tony Jones and Channel 9 following comments made by Channel Nine sports commentator, Mr Tony Jones during a live broadcast on the evening of 17 January 2025.
"Evidence from crowd members suggests that Mr Jones invited Australian-Serbian fans before a live broadcast and asked them to begin chanting and cheering. The fans were led to believe that they would be filmed as part of a Channel Nine segment on Australian Open fans.
"However, the footage shows Mr Jones mocking the Australian-Serbian fans behind him both through his comments and body language. Mr Jones started the broadcast by saying that, 'Novak, he's overrated'. He proceeds to exclaim that 'Novak a has been. Novak, kick him out'.
"For Australian-Serbs, the words 'kick him out' is akin to saying 'kick the Serbs out of Australia' because there is strong evidence of feelings of exclusion due to media reporting about Australian-Serbs in the past.
"SCOFA submitted a report to the Federal Government called 'Experiences of Vilification and Discrimination of Australian-Serbs following the deportation of Novak Djokovic in January 2022'. It shows that the Australian-Serbian community was exposed to anti-Serb sentiment during and after Novak Djokovic's deportation. Much of this anti-Serb sentiment was fuelled by negative media of Serbs more generally.
"We hereby demand that Channel 9:
"1. Immediately suspend Mr Tony Jones down from all sports broadcasting duties at Channel 9, in particular all duties to do with the Australian Open 2025;
"2. Dismiss Mr Tony Jones from his broadcasting role with Channel 9; and
"3. Issue SCOFA, and particularly the Australian-Serbian community and all Australian Open fans a formal apology, which is to be published on the Channel 9 website, newspaper and TV."
Jones appeared in an interview on Channel 9's morning breakfast television program, The Today Show, to provide his version of what happened.
"The comments were made on the news Friday night which I considered it to be banter, I considered it to be humour," he told Channel 9's Clint Stanaway.
"Having said that, I was made aware on the Saturday morning from Tennis Australia via the Djokovic camp and was not happy at all with those comments. As such, I immediately contacted the Djokovic camp and issued an apology to them, so this was 48 hours ago, for any disrespect I caused.
"If I could turn back time… the one thing where I overstepped the mark, and this is certainly what’s really angered Djokovic and his camp, is the last comment I made in that back and forth with the crowd, ‘kick him out’. Now I can stand here and put whatever spin I want on that, but it can only be interpreted as a throwback to the Covid years when he was kicked out. Now that has angered Novak which I completely understand.
"It has been an unfortunate situation. It’s been one of personal angst for Novak. It’s quite clearly personal angst for me as well. The priority now is to focus on the tennis.
"I should also add that in the correspondence with Novak’s team, I agreed to meet with them, they came back and said, 'Yes, we’ll be keen to meet in person'. That hasn’t transpired, but I’m sure it will over the next 24 hours."
Djokovic confirmed that his stance will continue until he receives an apology.
AATC – Australasian Academy of Tennis Coaches, Providing Quality Coach Education Globally. Led by Industry Leaders and Tennis Business Owners who understand your journey. 🌏 Learn Locally, Coach Globally 🚀 Start Your Coaching Journey Today. Enrol Now at www.aatc.tennis
Comments