Alex Trelinski
PRIME Minister, Pedro Sanchez, has fired off a warning to Novak Djokovic that he has to follow COVID-19 health safety rules if he wants to come to Spain.
Djokovic was deported from Melbourne on Sunday, a day before he was to begin his defence of his Australian Open tennis title.
The world number one tennis player is back in his native Serbia but owns a luxury €10 million villa at Sierra Blanca in Marbella area.
It became his primary home in 2020 after spending 15 years in Monaco.
He spent time at Sierra Blanca over Christmas before flying ‘down-under’ into a vaccination storm.
Madrid mayor, Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida, suggested this Monday that Djokovic would be welcome at the Mutua Madrid Open which starts on April 26.
He even described it as a ‘big coup’.
An image of Djokovic appears on the Madrid Open poster, with the event a warm up for the second Grand Slam event of the year, the French Open in Paris.
French authorities have said that all competitors at Roland Garros will have to be fully-vaccinated, which therefore stops ‘anti-vaxxer’ Djokovic from defending another Slam title.
Asked this Monday about Djokovic playing in Madrid, Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, said: “The rules are there to be complied with and any athlete who wants to compete in Spain has to do so based on the health rules.”
Spain’s entry requirements are not at the same strict level as Australia.
It means unvaccinated people can enter if they produce a negative PCR test or a certificate of having recently recovered from COVID-19.
Pedro Sanchez said he did want to debate the Djokovic issue with Madrid mayor, Martinez-Almeida.
READ MORE:
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- IN PICS: Inside Novak Djokovic’s €10 million villa as tennis World No.1 moves permanently to Spain’s Marbella
