For decades they have athletes the most positively rated public figures in Serbia. We gave receptions to all the champions under the balcony of the City Hall, but he always had a special place among them Novak Đoković. He is, without a doubt, a symbol of a successful Serbia, despite obstructions, injustices, biased judges, immigration authorities in Australia, the audience at tournaments against whom he also played, but also those who were bothered by the fact that he had a cross around his neck. They criticized him for having doubts about vaccination, but also because he did not criticize loudly enough Vučićeva power. He was also criticized when he came to Vučić's reception after the Olympics, he was criticized for marrying Jelena, for not hating Croats, for visiting the pyramids in Visoko, and the most suspicion was caused by his decision not to eat meat.
However, despite everything, Nole is a national hero, a cure for all our complexes and defeats, a man who never uttered a harsh word, who is still friends with his former colleagues, and shares the best memories, respect and friendship with his fiercest rivals.
However, things began to change when Novak Djokovic expressed in various ways his concern about the brutality shown by the government towards students in Serbia. He wore a sweatshirt that read "students are champions", and during the Wimbledon tournament, he marked each victory with a small dramatic performance in the form of "pumping". His children were part of that game, which became a regular topic and question at press conferences. This did not go unnoticed, so a very vile, primitive and malicious campaign against Novak Djokovic began in the tabloids, on obscure websites. More observant viewers, not to mention TV maniacs, could recognize that defamation mechanism that Vučić used many times in Serbia against his political dissenters. To be honest, there was also pressure from the "other Serbia" on Novak, because, just like the students, they did not forgive him for national sentiment, but he was also criticized for not taking a more open stance against Vučić.
This is part of the abuse of athletes that the government was proud of, but also led to the fact that today members of the same championship teams are on different sides of blockades and barricades. Those whom we loved precisely because they make a team, today are mostly rivals on the political level.
Vučić showed his attitude towards Nolet after the big meeting of SNS in Ćaciland, when he "overlooked" him, mentioning Jokic, even in letters of support. The second signal for the attack was hiring Bolt for the EXPO mascot specialized exhibitions, in addition to a large number of our champions in various sports.
Thus, the "hunting season" for Nolet was opened. The campaign begins with bizarre posts on social networks, where Nolet's patriotism is questioned in anonymous comments. Then graffiti "Nole Ustaša" appeared on the murals, but outside of Serbia, say in Republika Srpska. Just to remind you, the Serbian Open tournament in Banja Luka was founded and supported by the Đoković family. The attack started from Sarajevo, where entertainment manager Saša Mirković in a long interview for "Face" television insinuated that Djokovic, along with some other famous people from Serbia, participated in some kind of satanic rituals. Therefore, the chase starts from the pop underground and moves to the state tabloids, such as "Informer".
There, in the Collegium, they began to repeat, shyly at first, that Nole is an unparalleled athlete, but it is not nice that he interferes in politics. He was criticized for paying taxes in Monaco, and especially for planning to move to Athens with his family. In short, it turned out that Nole is suddenly not the best Serbian, especially since he is no longer number one on the ATP list, and Vučić is bothering him. It is also insinuated why his company returned the pitches to Belgrade on May 25, because allegedly some kind of fraud was committed there. In short, Nole turns out to be a thief.
In Serbia, the role of prosecutor in the Đoković case was given to a former minister Zorana Mihajlovic, which gave rise to the phrase that Nole is "hiding behind children". I could never understand the fascination of the media with those disillusioned members of the inner circle of the government, like Mihajlovic, Šormaz or Stanislava Pak. According to this belief, they can help better expose Vučić's malfeasance. Instead, I can only see people dissatisfied with the amount of privilege and appanage, people who will do anything to get back into the good graces of the ruler or atone for the sins of previous political lives.
It is bizarre that even Vučić mentioned Djokovic, whom he allegedly doesn't blame for pumping. That real or fictional phone conversation may or may not have actually taken place, but Nole is definitely no longer the darling of the media. Tennis commentators on RTS or Arena pretended to be crazy while Nole was "pumping", and recordings of the celebration of each victory were deleted from social networks, according to reports from Telekom.
In short, it shows that all our champions will be dragged through the mud of the tabloids if they don't work in Vučić's team. That's right Bodiroga became a traitor and a conspirator, because he took a picture with the rector or the prosecutor in his tavern, so with similar logic we will soon have two national teams, and the criterion will be whether you are for or against Vučić. I would say that the "pumping" team has the role of favorites, individually and collectively, while Vučić is joined by those who have been politically or financially dependent on the government for a long time. Some of them, like the handball player Mandić, are in charge of correcting voter lists and monitoring the election process.
In the end, Novak Djokovic is such a big name that all these pygmies who try to slander and discredit him fall before him, because the campaign against him sooner or later starts to turn against the one who ordered the campaign.
