Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley urges Djokovic and family to be 'really careful' amid flag storm surrounding father Srdjan

Australian Open Director Craig Tiley urged the Djokovic family to be really careful after they were at the center of a flag scandal during the event.

Djokovic's father Srdjan was embroiled in a flag controversy in Melbourne Park when footage of him posing with fans. The fans in question had flags you don't want to be associated with you and it created headlines around the world. Djokovic's father released a statement explaining that he left as soon as he realised what was going on and that he was against any war having lived through it.

Djokovic himself explained that it was a misunderstanding and now Craig Tiley spoke on the matter as well. Talking to The Age, the Aussie Open director said:

“I did spend a fair amount of time talking to the Djokovic family. My advice is that you have to be really careful because if this is an event of global significance, it’s a platform. When you have hundreds of thousands of people to 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."

He added:

“And they completely understand that. 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.”