Kosovo Olympic Committee seeks IOC disciplinary action against Djokovic
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[May 31, 2023]
PARIS (Reuters) - 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 following his
first-round win on Monday, 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 said 52 protesters were wounded in the clashes.
The violence erupted after ethnic Albanian mayors took office in
northern Kosovo's Serb-majority area following elections that were
boycotted by the Serbs.
The world number three later said he was against any kind of
conflict but defended his statement and described Kosovo's situation
as a "precedent".
"Novak Djokovic has yet again promoted the Serbian nationalists'
propaganda and used the sport platform to do so," Ismet Krasniqi,
president of Kosovo's Olympic Committee (KOK), said in a statement.
"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 investigate "by opening disciplinary proceedings against
the athlete."
France's Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera, whose country will
host the summer Olympics in Paris next year, said Djokovic's message
was "not appropriate, clearly".
"There is a principle of neutrality for the field of play. When you
carry messages about defending human rights, messages that bring
people together around universal values, a sports person is free to
express them," she told French television.
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![](../images/053123PIX/sports69.jpg)
Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros,
Paris, France - May 29, 2023 Serbia's Novak Djokovic warms up before
his first round match against Aleksandar Kovacevic of the U.S.
REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne
![](../images/ads/current/graue_lda_4_2021.png)
"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."
Djokovic, chasing a record 23rd Grand Slam title, has said he was
not holding back and would do it again. He is set to play his
second-round match later on Wednesday against Hungary's Marton
Fucsovics.
The IOC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Tuesday, Kosovo's tennis federation said Djokovic's comments were
"regrettable", accusing him of using his status as a well-known
personality to stir tensions.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/May/31/images/ads/current/library_sda_PROMGRAD_2023.png)
NATO, which has some 4,000 soldiers currently in Kosovo, will send
700 extra troops to curb violence and put another battalion on high
alert as unrest has intensified.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru, Karolos Grohmann, Julien
Pretot and Shrivathsa Sridhar in Paris; Editing by Helen Popper and
Christian Radnedge)
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