A leaked video of two Australian news anchors bashing Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic off-air has gone viral. Mike Amor and Rebecca Maddern, television anchors of Seven News Melbourne, had referred to Djokovic as a “lying, sneaky a**hole” during their private conversation.

The conversation followed the tennis icon making a false claim about his travel history before his arrival in Australia.

 The leaked video shows the anchors in a news studio. The conversation had taken place moments before they went on air to present the channel’s 6pm bulletin.

 Maddern said, “Whatever way you look at it, Novak Djokovic is a lying sneaky a***hole,” to which, Amor had replied, “He got a bullsh*t f***ing excuse and then fell over his own f***ing lies. It’s just what happens, right, that’s what happened.”

 The viral video, posted on Twitter by a user named “MelbTigerTalk”, has garnered over 55,000 views and hundreds of likes. While the video has become an object of laughter  for some, Djokovic’s fans have rushed to comments to defend the tennis star. Another user stood out in support of the news anchors and wrote, “only speaking the truth, no issue”.

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 According to a report by Daily Mail, Craig McPherson, Director of News and Public Affairs at the network, has stated that an investigation is underway to find out who leaked the video.

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Maddern, on the other hand, has apologised to her superiors for her inappropriate choice of words.

 Djokovic had found himself in the eye of a storm after he had arrived in Australia on January 5. He had carried a document of medical exemption from being vaccinated after he had tested positive for the coronavirus in December. The 34-year-old icon was questioned by Melbourne airport authorities and the officials refused to validate his exemption and cancelled his visa. Djokovic was then detained. However, a court overturned his visa cancellation on Monday.

 After scrutiny of his exemption document, Djokovic accepted it was not authentic. In a statement on Instagram he added that the travel declaration had been submitted by his support team on his behalf, and the mistake was caused by  “human error”.