And there, Djoko drops the top and starts to spin the hairy torso towels on "the bongo song". We are on June 15, in an upscale club in Belgrade, where some big names on the circuit celebrate the return of the little yellow ball during the exhibition tournament organized by the Serbian, the Adria Tour. With one watchword: fuck social distancing. A week later, to everyone's surprise (no), four positive cases in Croatia raised fears of the birth of a cluster of coronaviruses. But let's take things in order.
Djokovic needs to take responsibility along with all the other players who participated in this for some cash in the middle of a global pandemic. Reckless idiots ...
Cancel USO ASAPpic.twitter.com/C6hc9xUFyS
Belgrade, therefore. It is in his country that Novak Djokovic decides to launch his baby, one of the first post-Covid tournaments where ten or so the best local players (Coric, Lajovic or Cilic) and Zverev, Thiem or Dimitrov are invited. Must follow three other stages in the Balkans, Zadar and Zagreb in Croatia, with a detour to Montenegro, all benefits collected for humanitarian projects. In Belgrade and then in Zadar, we have fun. It is sunny, it is hot and sport is resuming its rights in two countries relatively untouched by the health crisis. The public gathers without mask or the slightest social distancing in the stands. Djokovic even boasts in the media of having managed to add "2 or 3,000 additional seats".
"No security rules in and around the stadium"
The players, themselves, apart from sharing a dance floor, shake hands or cuddle after the games. We organize football and basketball games between ATP stars, a few crowds with the local kids and even concerts. Always without the slightest social distancing and under the eye of the Instagram account of the Tournament, which does not miss anything of this warm life after.
Suddenly these photos of the Adria Tour take on a new dimension ...
📸 @AdriaTennisTour pic.twitter.com/7Q7BLJsRJk
Vladimir Zrinjski, Croatian journalist for Jutarnji List, covered the Zadar tournament.
“There were no safety rules in and around the stadium. People would sit where they wanted. The organizers announced limits to 40% of capacity at the weekend, but some areas, including that of VIPs, were full. On Saturday, I went to the stadium without anyone looking at my accreditation and I saw fans doing the same. Basically, there was no control over who entered the stadium. "
Sunday, at a press conference, Novak Djokovic defended his Adria anti-distancing Tour: “I know there are a lot of critics, especially from the West. Why is there an audience? Why don't we respect social distancing? It is difficult to explain to people that the situation here is very different from what it is in the United States or in Great Britain. We have always respected the health rules in force and waited for the green light from the authorities. We have followed all protocols and the result is great. "
According to the Croatian journalist, the instructions of the local authorities were to respect the social distancing of 1.50m in open space, but "no one controlled". He continues: “The health situation has been pretty good for a month, with days in 0 cases, 1 or 2 maximum. But last week, the number of cases was on the rise. "
Four positive cases
The blow of bamboo thus arrived Sunday evening, with the announcement of the positive control of the Bulgarian star Gregor Dimitrov, a few minutes after the press conference with the "brilliant result" of Djoko. The case of Dimitrov challenges. He did not play on Friday and seemed very weak on Saturday against Coric. At the end of the match, he preferred to "check his opponent" with his fist rather than a good old hand shake. A journalist then lets go in the press room which should have been a joke in bad taste "maybe he has the Covid? " Everyone laughs and rather evokes a possible evening watered the day before.
Sunday evening, in the wake of Dimitrov's positive control, everyone goes to the PCR test, players, staff and those around them. The final between Rublev and Djokovic is canceled. When he woke up on Monday, the news got worse: Coric also declared himself positive at the Covid in a Twitter message. A member of Djokovic's staff and Dimitrov's coach would also be, according to information from the SportKlub media, in what looks like the start of a cluster.
Pretty much every relevant player aside from Djokovic was pictured waiting to be tested last night. Marin Cilic, Borna Coric, Alexander Zverev, Donna Vekic, Andrey Rublev, Djordje Djokovic. [Luka Gerlanc / Cropix] https://t.co/KeDBmfEpGF pic.twitter.com/kyNMEUBNIR
- Tumaini Carayol (@tumcarayol) June 22, 2020Vladimir Zrinjski, the Croatian journalist, is now in quarantine for having done a "1 to 1" interview with Borna Coric. He says: “For the first press conference, journalists were asked to wear masks, but not the players. No player from a foreign country has been tested because we have no rules for that. It's unimaginable ! At least they should have tested the players. And besides, Dimitrov hadn't played on Friday so they knew he was not well. I do not understand how the authorities and the tournament could have taken the situation over the leg so much. "
What about Djoko? He would have left Zadar for Belgrade without having passed the slightest test because he "would not have felt the slightest symptom" according to his coach and tournament organizer Goran Ivanisevic. Well everything is fine then.
Sport
Coronavirus: The misclassified victims of a “sporting and financial injustice” with the new calendar
- Novak Djokovic
- Grigor Dimitrov
- Coronavirus
- Tennis
- Sport