Friday, Jan 28, 2022 12:53 PM
BUDVA, Montenegro — Novak Djokovic received an honor on Friday at a small Adriatic Sea resort in Montenegro, even as doubts resurfaced over the positive COVID-19 test he used in an attempt to participate in the Australian Open.
The BBC has reported discrepancies in the serial numbers of the tests Serbian authorities administered to Djokovic in the days before his trip to Australia, suggesting possible irregularities in the way they were administered.
Djokovic’s team and Serbia’s Institute of Public Health did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press. Senior Serbian health officials have previously said Djokovic’s test was valid and issued by a competent institution.
Djokovic was expelled from Australia and banned from playing the Australian Open earlier this month after an 11-day saga on the eve of the tournament because he failed to meet Australia’s strict demands in regarding vaccination against COVID-19.
To enter Australia, Djokovic submitted a positive COVID test issued in Serbia on December 16 for a visa waiver on the grounds that he had contracted COVID-19 before the tournament.
The 34-year-old is unvaccinated and the Australian government subsequently decided to cancel his visa and deport him, saying his presence in Australia could stoke anti-vaccination sentiments.
Djokovic said he would not make any public comments until after the tournament in Australia.
Several hundred people cheered outside the municipal building in the small Adriatic town of Budva on Friday when Djokovic arrived to receive a plaque making him an honorary citizen of the town.
Senior local official Marko Carevic also introduced Djokovic as an Orthodox Christian icon, expressing his gratitude for helping to “preserve the Serbian people and the Serbian church in Montenegro”.
Djokovic is adored in his native Serbia and among Serbs in neighboring Montenegro, a small nation of around 620,000 people. Since returning home, Djokovic has been seen in churches and attended liturgies in Serbia and Montenegro.
A video posted on social media showed a maskless Djokovic taking communion from Serbian Patriarch Porfirije at an Orthodox Christian holiday, using the same spoon with fellow worshipers in a Belgrade church.
