Serbian star Novak Djokovic will be allowed to make ‘political’ comments at Grand Slams
- Lindokuhle Mbuyisa
- 31 May 2023
The French Tennis Federation (FFT) have no plans to sanction Serbian star Novak Djokovic over recent political comments at the French Open, as they believe he has not broken any rules.
The French Tennis Federation has confirmed that they will not punish Novak Djokovic following his recent "political" comments on a camera lens.
The 22-time major champion wrote "Kosovo is the heart of Serbia. Stop violence" on the camera lens after his first round-straight set victory against American Aleksandar Kovacevic.
This led to some uproar from certain quarters with the Kosovo Tennis Federation accusing Djokovic of risking "inflaming" tensions in the northern region of the country and calling for him to be fined for appearing to deny their country's independence.
The FFT then responded with their own statement saying, "There are no official Grand Slam rules on what players can or cannot say. The FFT will not be making any statement or taking any stance on this matter."
"The same rules apply to all four Grand Slams", referring to the International Tennis Federation player rulebook for major events.
The statement basically confirms that the federation will allow the 36-year-old to make such statements even at the Wimbledon tournament next month.
The World number three Djokovic will be facing Hungarian Márton Fucsovics, in his second-round French open clash this Wednesday evening.
