sternTV discussion
Dragoslav Stepanovic’s confused theses on the Djokovic case
Stands by his Serbian compatriot: former Bundesliga coach Dragoslav Stepanovic
© RTL / star
The whole world is against Novak Djokovic. The whole world? No, there is still the former football coach Dragoslav Stepanovic. In the discussion on sternTV, Djokovic’s Serbian compatriot swung into a wild defense of the number one in the tennis world. Conspiracy theories included.
When he was a football coach, Dragoslav Stepanovic was considered a cult for a long time by the fans. Affable, approachable, always a saying on the lips. Unforgotten is his slogan “Lebbe geht weida” when his club Eintracht Frankfurt missed out on the championship in a dramatic final in the 1991/92 season. And when asked what his new contract looked like, he once replied mischievously: “I think he’s Din A 4.”
Recently it had become quiet around the cult coach, Wikipedia shows the clubs of Novi Sad and Nis in his Serbian homeland as the last coaching stations. But on Sunday evening “Stepi”, as he was usually called chummy, suddenly reappeared – switched on in a sternTV discussion round that dealt with the Novak Djokovic case. And there he lived up to his reputation of always being good for a casual joke.
Stepi’s wild conspiracy theories on the Djokovic case
However, Stepanovic not only threw around harmless bon mots, but also made questionable claims about the background to Djokovic’s expulsion. “Djokovic is 100 percent the victim of political machinations,” says Stepanovic when asked by moderator Nikolaus Blome. “If there is a special permit and he brings all the documents, then he must be allowed in.” Once he got going, Stepanovic then rose to a wild thesis: “He has won the Australian Open nine times. If he wins it for the tenth time, then they would have to put a bust in front of the stadium and rename the arena to his name. That costs a few euros and isn’t that nice for the people who live in Australia.”
The studio group was visibly irritated by Stepanovic’s confused objections, which were also difficult to understand at times. Among other things, he claimed that there were five other players who were allowed to start at the first Grand Slam tournament of the season with a special permit issued by tournament director Craig Tiley. Djokovic also has a diplomatic passport with which he can travel anywhere at any time. “He can go in and out whenever he wants,” said Stepanovic. “He just didn’t show it because it was so fair.”
And then there was the matter of tennis bad guy Nick Kyrgios, who apparently has an intimate enmity with Djokovic and whom Stepanovic somehow blamed for the expulsion. However, the train of thought was now really hardly understandable in terms of content and language. It was about a T-shirt that said “Djokovic go home”, some Djokovic masks that someone wanted to wear. But what Stepanovic ultimately wanted to express with that remained a mystery.
Incomprehension among fellow discussants
Stepanovic only received incomprehension from his fellow discussants. “Let’s Dance” juror Joachim Llambi pointed out that people in Australia should have spent around 200 days in the corona lockdown. “I don’t understand how people like Djokovic want to put themselves above the law. I find that disrespectful to all Australians.” Actress Elena Uhlig: “Such an extra sausage is impossible.” Track cycling Olympic champion Kristina Vogel sees the affair as a “failure by many”. Also the Australian government, which, according to Llambi, gave “a very bad picture”.
Of course, Stepanovic thinks so too. “They made a lot of claims that aren’t true.” For example, that in Serbia only 50 percent of the people are vaccinated. It is 62 percent. And anyway: the government is ungrateful. “The Novak Djokovic helped everywhere. Gave money to the Australian government when there was a fire.”
In the end, “Stepi” was left with the resigned conclusion: “You’re missing the point.” That may well be the case, but it applied primarily to himself.