Kosovo Olympic authorities have asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to open disciplinary proceedings against Novak Djokovic, accusing the Serbian 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 after his first-round win, 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.
Serbian authorities say 52 protesters were wounded in the clashes. The violence erupted, after ethnic Albanian mayors took office in northern Kosovo's Serb-majority area, after elections were boycotted by the Serbs.
World No.3 Djokovic says he is against any kind of conflict, but defends his statement.
"Novak Djokovic has yet again promoted the Serbian nationalists' propaganda and used the sport platform to do so," said Kosovo's Olympic Committee (KOK) president Ismet Krasniqi.
"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 open disciplinary proceedings against Djokovic.
The IOC has not immediately commented on the call, which came a day after Kosovo's tennis federation accused Djokovic, 36,of using his status as a well-known personality to stir tensions.
French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera, whose country will host the Paris Olympics next year, says Djokovic's message was "not appropriate, clearly".
"There is a principle of neutrality for the field of play," she said. "When you carry messages about defending human rights, messages that bring people together around universal values, a sportsperson is free to express them, 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."
'Speak freely'
Djokovic has courted controversy in the past, including with his anti-vaccination stance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As he prepares to play his second-round match against Hungary's Marton Fucsovics, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) - the governing body of world tennis - says Djokovic's message did not violate Grand Slam rules.
"Rules for player conduct at a Grand Slam event are governed by the Grand Slam rulebook, administered by the relevant organiser and regulator," said an ITF spokesperson. "There is no provision in this that prohibits political statements."
Asked about the furore at Paris, Ukrainian player Elina Svitolina says the Serbian should have the right to express his opinion.
Svitolina, 28, has called for all Russian and Belarusian tennis players to be banned from international competition over Moscow's 2022 invasion of her country and insists 22-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic can speak his mind.
"Well, we are living in the free world, so why not to say your opinion on something," Svitolina said, after her second round win at the French Open.
"I feel like, if you stand for something, you think that this is the way, you should say. I mean, if you are with a friend, sitting, talking, you're going to say your opinion, he is going to say his opinion, so why not?"
NATO, which has some 4000 soldiers currently in Kosovo, will send 700 extra troops to curb violence and put another battalion on high alert, as unrest has intensified.
Reuters
