PARIS (AP) – French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said Wednesday that Novak Djokovic’s political message about Kosovo was “not appropriate” and warned the former Serbian top player that he should not redo.
Speaking to France 2 television, Oudea-Castera said French Open director Amelie Mauresmo spoke to Djokovic and his entourage to insist on the principle of “neutrality” on the pitch.
“When it comes to defending human rights and bringing people together around universal values, an athlete is free to do that,” he said. But Oudea-Castera added that Djokovic’s message was “militant, very political” and “must not be repeated”.
Djokovic has come under fire from the Kosovo tennis federation after speaking out clashes in northern Kosovo between ethnic Serbs and police and NATO peacekeepers.
After his first-round win in Paris on Monday, Djokovic wrote in Serbian into the lens of a courtside TV camera: “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia. Stop the violence.”
Kosovo’s tennis federation said on Tuesday that Djokovic’s comments were “deplorable” because they were fueling tensions between Serbia and Kosovo.
The International Tennis Federation has not opened a disciplinary file.
“We received a letter from Kosovo which we have replied to,” said ITF president David Haggerty. “But basically we sent their letter to the French federation, the French Open, it’s their tournament and the ATP has the rules … both of them together have the rules and regulations of the event.”
Haggerty added that “athletes have to be careful with their political views. Sports and politics is what we’ve been talking about and we really want to keep them separate.”
A former province of Serbia, Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence is not recognized by Belgrade. Albanians make up the majority of the population, but Kosovo has a restless Serbian minority in the north of the country bordering Serbia.
Djokovic, who has won 22 Grand Slam titles, is scheduled to play in the second round at Roland Garros on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters in Serbian on Monday, Djokovic said he thought what he wrote on television was “the least I could do. I feel responsible as a public figure … as well as a man’s son who was born in Kosovo”.
Without mentioning Djokovic by name, French Open organizers said in a statement issued on Tuesday that no rules had been broken, saying: “From time to time, discussions of international news events enter the tournament scope, which is understandable.”
Ukrainian player Elina Svitolina was asked about the issue on Wednesday after her second-round win. He has spoken out about the Russian invasion of his country and said that athletes should be able to express opinions.
“Well, we live in the free world, so why not speak your mind about something? I feel like if you stand for something, you think this is the way, you should say (it),” said Svitolina, who also acknowledged, “I don’t know Serbia’s politics.”
