After the recent events regarding Novak Djokovic, who was deported from Australia last Sunday after the sentence of three federal judges upheld the order to have his visa canceled due to his vaccination status, Forbes magazine took care to find out which of the main sponsors of the Serb decided to continue the partnership and which, on the contrary, interrupted it.
The Serb’s visa was canceled for the second time by Immigration Minister Alex Hawk last week. Djokovic therefore lost the chance to defend the title he won last year in Australia and, given the recent announcement of a compulsory vaccination policy also adopted by France, the number one would risk having to give up. also at the second slam of the year.
In an interview with Forbes, Novak Djokovic’s main sponsors, including Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), Hublot and Lacoste, commented on their relationship with the Serb after the events related to his vaccination status.
Novak Djokovic may have sponsor issues
RBI and Hublot have confirmed that the agreements with the Serbian tennis player will remain unchanged, given the nature of previous collaborations over the backlash involving Djokovic in Australia.
The German bank (RBI) says the deals with Djokovic were made before the Serb revealed his vaccination status. Sasa Ozmo, a Serbian journalist who has been following the 20th Slam champion for years, confirmed Djokovic’s deal with the RBI with a tweet.
Even the watchmaker Hublot declared that it would continue its collaboration with the Serb, without commenting on the personal choice of the tennis player not to be vaccinated. On the other hand, clothing company Lacoste expressed uncertainty about the future relationship with Djokovic, stating that: “Other well-known sponsors, such as Asics, Head, Lemero, NetJets, Peugeot and Ultimate Software Group, have preferred not to not respond to Forbes’ request for comment.
Novak Djokovic finished in 2021 in fourth place on the list of the highest paid tennis players of the year, with a total of 34.5 million dollars, of which 30 million came from sponsors, or 87% of total earnings.
Djokovic has also been the highest-earning tennis player over the past year, in addition to being the first player to earn $150 million on the court and owning five of the ten highest prize money amounts per season in the story.
Sponsorships, however, remain the main source of income for the Serbian champion and the future choices of the world number one could affect the collaboration relations with other well-known brands.
