Novak Djokovic It is in the eye of the hurricane. The Serbian athlete, last Monday, at the end of his first round match of Roland Garros, wrote on a broadcast camera in Cyrillic: “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia. Stop the violence.” His action has generated controversy due to the current situation in the relations of both countries.
The Kosovo Tennis Federation (KFA) has reacted, in statements collected by the English newspaper The Guardian. He condemns Djokovic’s gesture and, in addition, requests a punishment for the Serbian tennis player for taking advantage of such a far-reaching scenario as Roland Garros to launch such a political message.
At a press conference, the number three in the world continued with his speech: “My position is clear: I am against wars, violence and any type of conflict, as I have always said publicly. I empathize with all people, but the situation with Kosovo is a precedent in international law… I am very sorry for the situation we find ourselves in: Kosovo is our cornerstone, our fortress, our most important monasteries are there”
[El oscuro pasado del 172 del mundo que ganó a Medvedev: denunciado por violencia doméstica]
“Despite a general anti-violence message, the statement ‘Kosovo is the heart of Serbia’ and the post-match statements, made by such a public figure, on the occasion of a world event like the French Open, have as a direct result of raising the level of tension between the two countries, Serbia and Kosovo,” the KFA said in this regard. “The Kosovo Tennis Federation continues to strongly recommend athletes and sportspeople to work for peace and refrain from abusing their position in sport for political purposes,” the federation added.
The KFA also announced that it would communicate with the French Tennis Federation (FFT) and the Association of Professional Tennis Players (ATP) to call for a punishment for Djokovic. However, the FFT has already declared that there are no rules in the Grand Slam that prevent players from making political statements and it distanced itself by announcing that it would not make any more statements in this regard.
The French Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castera, did criticize Djokovic’s message on Wednesday. “Clearly, it was not appropriate,” she said in an interview on the French public channel France 2 when asked about the action.
The French minister explained that the director of the tournament, Amelie Mauresmo, had spoken with the player’s entourage, who in the past has already publicly stated his political position regarding Kosovo, and insisted that “it does not have to be repeated because there is a principle of neutrality” in the competition. In his opinion, Djokovic’s action was “militant” and “very political”, which is why he should not manifest himself during the competition.
Situation in Kosovo
The situation in Kosovo has come back to the fore in recent days due to a sharp increase in tensions between the majority Albanian authorities and the Serb minority, supported by Belgrade, after the election of the mayors of four northern municipalities.
In these municipalities, in which the Serbs are in the majority, mayors from the Albanian community have been elected in elections boycotted by the former in which participation was barely 3% and the situation has degenerated into violent clashes with dozens of injured .
2023-05-31 09:03:49
#raises #tension #Serbia #Kosovo
