Are Novak Đoković’s sporting successes a means of soft or sharp influence by Serbia and Russia?

The Russian Embassy in Belgrade congratulated Novak Đoković on winning the Australian Open. And it would not have been surprising if the circumstances had not been extraordinary and if Đoković’s sporting successes had not been accompanied, in the stands and on the sidelines, by Serbian nationalist choreography, which has recently included clear and unequivocal support for Vladimir Putin’s regime and the Russian occupation of Ukraine.

At the very end of the tournament in Melbourne, social networks and the world media were abuzz with news of Russian flags bearing the image of Vladimir Putin being flown by Novak Đoković’s fans outside the stadium where the Australian Open was being held. At one point, At one point, the father of the tennis player, known for his right-wing views, joined the crowd, holding a flag with Putin’s image on it, along with a man who had a symbol of Russia’s occupation of Ukraine in the shape of the letter “Z” on his T-shirt.

Srđan Đoković has expressed his support for Vladimir Putin in the past, and ahead of Putin’s arrival in Belgrade in 2019, he put up a billboard in his honour above the “Novak” restaurant he owns, with the Russian and Serbian flags flowing into each other. ..

In his widely cited 2019 article “Soft Power and the Public Diplomacy Revisited”, the US political scientist Joseph Nye questions the ability of authoritarian regimes to exercise soft power. In the absence of a free civil society and independent media, which are most often the environments that create and implement soft power projects of the state and culture, authoritarian regimes use soft power exclusively as a cloak to hide sharp power.

In the specific case of Đoković’s sporting successes, the question arises as to what political messages this talented athlete is sending from his matches and celebrations. In addition to the increasing use of Chetnik iconography in the stands by Đoković’s fans, Đoković is also known for his anti-vaxxer views and his support for alternative pseudo-scientific archaeological discoveries. Alternative and misinformed narratives of history, Đoković’s promotion of bizarre authors and pseudo-scientists such as Jovan Deretić and Samir Osmanagić are a source of serious controversy and have been the source of much criticism.

There is also the question of the influence of Novak Đoković on the politics and stability of the Western Balkans region. In addition to his support for Serbia’s non-recognition of Kosovo, Đoković has backed the Serbian Orthodox Church’s protest movement in Montenegro, which had lead to the regime change in 2020. His father, Srdjan Đoković, hosted British populist Nigel Farage in his home last year, and both he and the younger Đoković have often been seen in the company of Serbia’s authoritarian President Vucic, as well as the Serbian leader in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik.

Given the messages from on and around the court, the iconography of Serbian Nazi collaborators from the Second World War, as well as the nationalist hysteria that accompanies every Đoković success on social media, one can ask any number of questions about the nature of Đoković’s influence on the countries of the region.

Đoković is popular among Serbs and other peoples in the region. When this support and affection takes the form of a nationalist campaign and becomes a means of Russian influence if becomes the tool of malign influence.
And that was exactly what happened at the last tournament in Melbourne. Đoković’a success has been used for spreading the messages of justification of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as conspiracy theories related to vaccination.

Ljubomir Filipović for The Geopost