It was not only the citizens of Serbia who were surprised by Usain Bolt's stay in Belgrade as a promoter of the specialized exhibition EXPO 2027. Not so much because of the fact that the once fastest man in the world, holder of eight Olympic gold medals and world records in the 100 and 200 meters, came to Belgrade for that job, but because this exhibition is not promoted by the best tennis player in the world ever, and also an active player - Novak Djokovic or the best basketball player of today - Nikola Jokic.
Serbia is lucky to be able to be proud of such two superstars who are certainly up to the task that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has come up with. Of course, no one has anything against Bolt, but at the very least, this decision is illogical. Especially if we bear in mind that the Serbian President mentioned that the promoter of this specialized exhibition will be an actor who not only Vučić, but Bolt also admires. He also mentioned Jokić in some context, but he didn't seem to even think about Đoković. And so we slowly get to the point.
The best tennis player in the world is no longer the president's favorite athlete. He no longer invites him to formal dinners to drink wine with his family members, as was the case before. Vučić has received Đoković several times and it is unlikely that this will happen again soon. What is the mortal sin of the best tennis player in the world? Đoković, in fact, made an unforgivable mistake in the eyes of the president of the country, which he presented with great pride and love and continues to do so today. He supported students in Serbia and that is unforgivable. And not just once.
From all the tools according to Djokovic
Vučić is far from being someone who has understanding for anyone who has a different understanding and view than him. This is not only unacceptable, but also unthinkable. That all this is true is also evidenced by the headlines in the Serbian tabloids where they shoot at Đoković and his family with all their might. His wife has not been spared either.
How far this has gone is illustrated by the example of a letter from a certain eight-year-old Pavle that Vučić read in front of TV cameras the day after his April rally in Belgrade. The letter said that Pavle loved Serbia very much and that he watched “the world tennis champion Novak”. Vučić was annoyed by this, because how could an eight-year-old child love someone who supported the students and instead of that sentence read the sport and the name of a man that Pavle had not written at all: “I coach basketball and watch the Euroleague and I love Nikola Jokić”. The camera footage recorded Vučić’s contempt for Đoković and it is clearly visible that Novak was underlined in red pencil.
Where Jokić came from in Vučić's interpretation is also not without reason. Jokić has supported Vučić in the elections on several occasions, but has not commented on the students. According to information from Sombor, the hometown of the three-time NBA MVP, members of his immediate family are also members of Vučić's party, so it is quite clear why Novak from the eight-year-old's letter became Nikola in Vučić's version.
Whoever wondered why Djokovic is not a promoter, this is a sufficient answer. Who knows, maybe Djokovic refused to be the promoter of EXPO, but something like that would certainly not be kept quiet by the tabloids, to whom the president would certainly have reported that something like that had happened. It is more likely that he was not even offered the promotion, especially in light of the information coming from Greece. Greek tabloids are widely speculating that the best tennis player in the world is moving to Athens in the fall and that he has received a Greek “golden visa”. None of Djokovic’s allegations have been confirmed, but he reminded everyone that Djokovic gave up on the idea of building his own tennis center in Belgrade due to the state’s attitude towards him. He returned the courts he had rented and on which he successfully organized tournaments from the “250” series to the state.
Students also joined the story
Students immediately got involved in the whole story, inviting Djokovic to join them at their new protest in Belgrade on June 28th, and at one of the many protests in Belgrade, a message appeared to the President of Serbia: "It's no use Bolt, this race is a marathon."
Bolt thus found himself at the center of a political debate in Serbia, through no fault of his own, but certainly a few hundred thousand dollars richer. There is a website on the Internet that clearly states that the engagement of the once fastest man in the world costs $200.000. In Serbia, among sports journalists, there is talk of a sum between half a million and a full million dollars, but it is unlikely that this will be known soon.
Bolt, however, showed and proved that he is a great gentleman, at least as much as his sporting achievements. In an interview for a public media service the same day, he said that he particularly admires three Serbian athletes. In addition to the aforementioned Djokovic and Jokic, Bolt mentioned another athlete whose name Vučić would also have skipped if he had come across it in a letter. It is Nemanja Vidić, for whom Bolt emphasized that he has a special place in his heart. This sports legend is a big fan of Manchester United, whose captain Vidić was once.
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