Novak Djokovic "poisoned" in Australia
Novak Djokovic claims he was "poisoned" while he was detained in a Melbourne hotel room ahead of the 2022 Australian Open.
The Serbian tennis champion was infamously deported from the country three years ago when he did not meet the country’s COVID-19 vaccination requirements at the height of the pandemic.
After the federal government cancelled his visa, he stayed at a Melbourne immigration detention facility for five days alongside refugees and asylum seekers.
During his time at the Park Hotel in Carlton, he claims he was fed food that was "poisoned" with “lead and mercury”, as he faced "some health issues" when he returned to Serbia.
“I had some health issues. And I realised that in that hotel in Melbourne I was fed with some food that poisoned me,” Djokovic told GQ Sports.
“I had some discoveries when I came back to Serbia. I never told this to anybody publicly, but discoveries that I had a really high level of heavy metal. Heavy metal. I had the lead, very high level of lead and mercury.”
Pressed on whether he thought the substances entered his body via the food in Melbourne, Djokovic said: “That’s the only way."
“Yeah, (I was) very sick. It was like the flu, just a simple flu. But when it was days after that a simple flu took me down so much, I had an emergency medical team treat me at home. I had that several times and then I had to do toxicology (tests).”
The 37-year-old, who has claimed the Aus Open victory 10 times, says he holds no grudges against Australia, but he can’t say the same thing for his family.
“Well, for my wife and my parents and my family, it’s not (water under the bridge),” he says.
“For me, it is. For me, I’m fine. I never held any grudge over Australian people. In contrary, actually, a lot of Australian people that I meet, I met in Australia the last few years or elsewhere in the world, coming up to me and apologising to me for the treatment I received because they were embarrassed by their own government at that point."
“I actually love being there, and I think my results are a testament to my sensation of playing tennis and just being in that country.”
Image credits: Shutterstock