Serbian Novak Djokovic’s message after his first match at Roland-Garros on the current tensions in Kosovo was “not appropriate” and “we must not start it again”, French Sports Minister Amélie warned on Wednesday morning. Oudea-Castera.
On Monday, Novak Djokovic wrote on camera: “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia. Stop the violence”.
A “militant”, “very political” message which came at the time of an outbreak of violence in northern Kosovo, pitting demonstrators from the Serbian minority against the NATO force stationed there.
This violence left around 30 international soldiers injured and around 50 Serb protesters who, with the support of Belgrade, refuse to recognize the authority of the Pristina government over the former Serbian province. Since Kosovo’s declaration of independence in 2008, tensions have erupted regularly between Belgrade and Pristina.
Asked on France 2 on the position of Djokovic, whose father was born in Kosovo, the minister, former director of the French Tennis Federation (FFT), specified that the director of the tournament Amélie Mauresmo “had been able to exchange with “Djokovic” and with his entourage”, evoking the principle of “neutrality of the playing field”.
Novak Djokovic must replay in the evening Tuesday against the Hungarian Marton Fucsovics.
Invited to comment on the expression of political positions during this Grand Slam tournament, such as those of Ukrainian athletes since the Russian invasion of their country, the minister stressed that she did not put “the two subjects on the same level”.
“When we carry messages that are for the defense of human rights, messages that bring people together around universal values, an athlete is free to do so,” she said. But, when it comes to a “militant, very political” message like that of the Serbian player, “it must not happen again”.
Conversely, “what is happening to Ukrainians on the circuit is so painful, so difficult,” she explained.
On Sunday, Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk did not greet Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka after their match, which earned her the whistles from the Roland-Garros public. She intended to protest against the response, according to her too timid, given by the tennis authorities to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, and to denounce the fact that Sabalenka does not take a position on this invasion.
“We can understand” the gesture of the young Ukrainian, “even if we would like there to always be fair play until the end of shaking hands, there is a pain that is there, which I respect”, added the minister.
The next day, after his match won against the American Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7/1), Novak Djokovic, armed with his marker, wrote his message in Cyrillic on the court camera Philippe Chatrier.
The player, in search of his 23rd Grand Slam at Roland-Garros, which would be a historic record, justified himself at a press conference in front of Serbian journalists. “It is a sensitive subject, he acknowledged. I feel an additional responsibility as a public figure and as the son of a man born in Kosovo to support all the Serbian people. is the least I can do. I am not a politician and I have no intention of engaging in debate.”
Many Serbs consider Kosovo their national and religious cradle and a minority still live there.
The Roland-Garros ethics charter prohibits political or religious positions. But the FFT published a rather sibylline press release, without addressing the question of a possible sanction: “The debates which cross the international news sometimes invite themselves on the sidelines of the tournament, it is understandable”, simply declared the federation.
05/31/2023 10:18:19 – Paris (AFP) – © 2023 AFP