Russian chess legend criticizes Novak Djokovic for ‘inappropriate’ Wimbledon comment, reminds him of Serbian history
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Novak Djokovic and Garry Kasparov
On social media, the renowned Russian chess legend Garry Kasparov stated that he disagreed with Novak Djokovic’s stance that Russian and Belarusian players should not be barred from competing. Kasparov, who is a former world champion and political foe of Vladimir Putin pointed out that people who did not denounce Putin’s actions were in effect tacitly supporting him.
“The Serb is particularly inappropriate”- Garry Kasparov
In a recent interview, Novak Djokovic said that, “Personally, I think there is no need to suspend Russian players. Competition is their right: there is a rule against discrimination in tennis, which says that everyone can play by rank, not by nationality. Wimbledon violated it”.
Kasparov reacted to this on Twitter, where he shared his post with the following comment, “Russia may be able to compete by rank, but they kill by nationality. Russian athletes who do not condemn Putin’s war of extermination in Ukraine support him by keeping silent. And a Serb who does not do so is particularly inappropriate given history.” The chess player said that Djokovic and many other Serbs were in a similar situation during the NATO aggression as the Ukrainians today during the Russian military attack.
Novak Djokovic stands against the sanctions imposed on Russian and Belarusian athletes
The 20-time Major winner told the media after his victory over Karen Khachanov at the Serbia Open that he opposes the penalties imposed on Russian and Belarusian athletes for no fault of their own. “I don’t support that, I grew up with sanctions, I know how it feels when the world sees you differently because a bad image has been created,” Novak Djokovic said. “I was a victim of that, as were many Serbs. I am a child of war, I know what it is like to lose close people, some still suffer because of all that. I will be against it forever.”
During the press conference, Novak Djokovic stated that while politics exist in sport, governments should not meddle with its operation. He maintained that suspending players because of their country is improper, pointing out that Wimbledon did so in violation of ATP rules.
“Politics exists in sports, you have political structures in the organization. I am talking about higher instances of interfering politics. I stand behind what I said. There is no need to suspend any athlete, not just a tennis player,” Novak Djokovic said. “I don’t see how they affect the war. We have a rule in tennis on the prohibition of discrimination, which speaks of the rule of ranking non-nationality. Wimbledon violated that, the ATP spoke out.”
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Pritha Ghosh
(414 Articles Published)