Kosovo Olympic authorities have asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to open disciplinary proceedings against Novak Djokovic, accusing the Serb of stirring up political tension by saying “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia” at the French Open.
Djokovic wrote the message on a camera lens following his first-round win on Monday, the same day that 30 NATO peacekeeping troops were hurt in clashes with Serb protesters in the Kosovo town of Zvecan where Djokovic’s father grew up.
“Kosovo is our cradle, our stronghold, center of the most important things for our country,” 36-year-old told Serbian media.
Photo: AFP
Serbian authorities said 52 protesters were wounded in the clashes. The violence erupted after ethnic Albanian mayors took office in northern Kosovo’s Serb-majority area following elections that were boycotted by the Serbs.
Serbian TV reported that “vandals” had destroyed a mural bearing the image of Djokovic on a building in Orahovac, a town in south-western Kosovo where a small number of Serbs live amongst the majority Albanians.
The world No. 3 later said he was against any kind of conflict, but defended his statement and described Kosovo’s situation as a “precedent.”
“Novak Djokovic has yet again promoted the Serbian nationalists’ propaganda and used the sport platform to do so,” Olympic Committee of Kosovo president Ismet Krasniqi said in a statement.
“The further post-match statements made by such a public figure without any feeling of remorse, directly result in raising the level of tension and violence between the two countries,” he added, urging the IOC to investigate “by opening disciplinary proceedings against the athlete.”
French Minister of Sports and Olympic and Paralympic Games Amelie Oudea-Castera, whose country is hosting the summer Olympics in Paris next year, said Djokovic’s message was “not appropriate, clearly.”
“There is a principle of neutrality for the field of play. When you carry messages about defending human rights, messages that bring people together around universal values, a sports person is free to express them,” she told French television. “But in this case, it was a message that is very activist, that is very political. You shouldn’t get involved, especially in the current circumstances, and it shouldn’t happen again.”
Djokovic has said he was not holding back and would do it again.
The IOC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
RSS