Tennis: Thiem to donate prize money from Djokovic’s Belgrade event

Dominic Thiem (left) and Novak Djokovic.

VIENNA: World number three Dominic Thiem will donate the prize money that he won in Belgrade during the ill-fated Adria Tour, where Novak Djokovic and three other participants tested positive for coronavirus, his father was quoted by Austrian media on Friday (Jul 3).

Thiem took part in the Belgrade leg of the exhibition event organised by Djokovic, where social distancing was minimal and matches were played in front of thousands of fans, earning a storm of criticism.

Thiem’s father, Wolfgang, who also trains the 26-year-old, defended Djokovic, telling Austria’s Presse daily that the world number one had not broken any of Serbia’s and Croatia’s coronavirus rules and the tour had aimed to collect money for charity.

“Of course the dancing in the nightclub (during the tour) was not ideal, but Djokovic did nothing bad in principle,” he was quoted as saying.

“…. a few thousand euros (dollars) are collected for a clinic treating children with cancer.”

He did not say to who Thiem would donate his prize money.

The 33-year-old Djokovic donated more than 40,000 euros (US$45,000) to the Serbian town of Novi Pazar, badly affected by the pandemic to help it fight a growing outbreak of the disease, Serbian media reported Wednesday.

Thiem has acknowledged tennis players at the Adria Tour made “a mistake” after Djokovic, Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki all tested positive to COVID-19.

Djokovic and his wife Jelena, who had been self isolating since returning from the tour, have now tested negative.

Z24 News

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Next Post

Canada's biggest banks join boycott of Facebook platforms

Fri Jul 3 , 2020
TORONTO: Canada’s biggest lenders confirmed on Friday (Jul 3) they had joined a widespread boycott of Facebook Inc begun by US civil rights groups seeking to pressure the world’s largest social media platform to take concrete steps to block hate speech. More than 400 brands have pulled advertising on Facebook […]

Share

Social menu is not set. You need to create menu and assign it to Social Menu on Menu Settings.