Novak Djokovic: knowing he was contaminated, he maintained an interview… “I didn’t want to let the journalist down”

Novak Djokovic is at the heart of a lively debate that is shaking the world of tennis. If he obtained the green light from the Australian Open to go to the territory, the athlete could not provide proof of his vaccination against Covid-19 was placed in a detention center by the authorities. To justify his controversial decision, the world number 1 revealed to have tested positive for the coronavirus on December 16. Except that the date of this contamination is controversial. The reason ? The tennis player took part in several events in the days following the result. The next day he participated in tennis event in Belgrade with children. On December 18, Novak Djokovic gave an interview to the newspaper L’Equipe, when he knew he was carrying Covid-19, as he revealed in a press release.

“I canceled all the other events. I felt compelled to go ahead and give the interview to L’Equipe because I didn’t want to let the journalist down”, wrote the Serbian tennis player, elected champion of champions 2021 by the sports daily. He then added that he had “assured to take [s]social distancing and wearing a mask, except when taking photos”. Recognizing that he “it was a mistake” to give this interview, Novak Djokovic then admitted that he should have “postpone this commitment”. Obviously not made aware of the positive test of the sportsman, the journalist of The Team took the floor. “We were both protected, facing each other, almost a meter apart, on either side of a long rectangular table”, described Franck Ramella in the columns of the daily.

Novak Djokovic: will he participate in the Australian Open?

“Asked by Etienne (the photographer, editor’s note) to remove his mask for five minutes during the discussion, Djokovic refuses. Just before leaving, he pats me on the shoulder and says to us: ‘Embrace this beautiful city of Paris’. Monday, I took the test before flying to Australia Negative“, continued the journalist. Pending a decision from the Australian authorities, Novak Djokovic is indeed present on the Open table, and should meet his compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic in the 1st round. But his participation could be called into question since we are waiting for a speech by Alex Hawke, the country’s immigration minister. A few days ago, the ministry announced that it was “thinking” to a possible cancellation of the player’s visa, which would be synonymous with his expulsion

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