BELGRADE, January 6. /TASS/. The political harassment of tennis star Novak Djokovic has been organized by those who cannot defeat him in a fair game, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in his Christmas address to the media on Thursday.
"Late last night I spoke with Novak Djokovic and early this morning I also spoke with him. We are doing all what we can do, our Foreign Ministry is fully and actively engaged. The political harassment is unfair, everyone is involved in it, including Australia’s prime minister. They are playing the game that ‘rules apply to all" but they had let many tennis players in under the same conditions, but not Djokovic. It’s clear for everyone what all this is about, and I’m not afraid of telling the truth, and my job is to protect interests of Serbian citizens. <...> But I’m afraid that this kind of political humiliation will continue against Novak Djokovic so that they could prove something. When you can’t defeat someone you start doing these things," the Serbian leader said.
Vucic noted that Serbia would do its utmost to ensure that until the standoff is ironed out Djokovic will stay in his house that he rented for the tournament rather than at the airport’s hotel. In this case, he could continue his training, the president noted.
The Serbian tennis player was detained at Australia’s Melbourne Airport on Wednesday evening over problems with documents. It later turned out that Djokovic failed to provide fair evidence that he has a legal medical exemption from the COVID-19 vaccination. After an investigation, which lasted throughout the night, his visa was cancelled and he was asked to leave the country.
Djokovic, 34, won 20 Grand Slam titles, nine Australian Open titles, including in 2021, six Wimbledon titles, three US Open titles and two French Open titles. He secured a total of 86 victories at tournaments as part of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Djokovic is a bronze medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Earlier reports said the Serbian tennis player could miss the Grand Slam tournament, the first one this season, over his refusal to undergo vaccination.
The Australian Open tournament is due in Melbourne on January 17-30.