The whole world is discussing the “Djokovic case”. And behind everything is the question: How much of a role model does a professional athlete actually have to be? A search for clues.
The immigration affair around Novak Djokovic turns into a real crime thriller. A court ruled in favor of the tennis star on Monday and ordered his release from the Australian detention center. The Serb’s lawyers had opposed the cancellation of his visa by the border protection authorities. This was preceded by days of legal tug-of-war that moved people all over the world (all further information can be found here).
Legally Djokovic may have won, but from a moral point of view he is the big loser. First, the probably unvaccinated tennis star claimed an extra sausage for himself to take part in the Australian Open. Then he felt that he was being treated unfairly when he was not allowed to enter, and now he let about his family by press conference (read here: Djokovic’s mother bursts into tears) in the finest war rhetoric (you can find out everything here) also report that he has “won for all free people”, “he has not fallen on his knees”, “he has been freed”.
The key question is:
How much of a role model does a professional athlete actually have to be?
The Argentine Diego Armando Maradona is for many the best footballer of all time. An outstanding dribbler, an ingenious ball distributor, quite simply: an artist. Even the “hand of God” and the private scandal stories about prostitution and drug consumption could not destroy his legendary status. “Diego” is still idolized by his followers.
Street scene from Rome: Maradona drawings can be found all over the world. (Source: ZUMA Wire / imago images)
Michael Jordan was the most brilliant basketball player on the planet, won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls, was named Most Valuable Player of the Season five times. But politically he largely stayed out of it. His well-known addiction to gambling and the associated nightly casino trips during active times or the stories of someone driven by a hunger for success who harassed his teammates did not change the fact that “Air Jordan” is still a model for generations to this day.
Usual pose: Michael Jordan at the dunk in the jersey of the Chicago Bulls. (Source: PCN Photography / imago images)
Same goes for Tiger Woods. He quickly had a reputation as a child prodigy, broke numerous records in his career and became a world star with advertising contracts worth millions. Woods is considered to be the first professional athlete to make over $ 1 billion. Away from the green, however, things have been disastrous in recent years: affairs, serious car accidents, rumored problems with alcohol and drug abuse. Pictures of the heavily drawn golf star shocked the public. Then there were also injuries. Woods is still a crowd puller, especially his US fans are eagerly watching whether he can still find his old form in the long term.
He knows it: Tiger Woods in a cheering pose. (Source: ZUMA Wire / imago images)
And then there is Lance Armstrong, probably the greatest cycling star of all time, who fought a bitter duel with Jan Ullrich at the Tour de France for years. But then he crashed. His seven (!) Overall Tour victories between 1998 and 2005? All denied, erased from the history books – when doping rumors that had been circulating for years turned out to be true. In a now legendary appearance on US talk queen Oprah Winfrey, Armstrong confessed to years of doping himself in 2013. Since then, he has also been considered one of the greatest scammers in sports history.
They were legendary duels: Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France, behind him Jan Ulrich. (Source: Belga / imago images)
These are athletes you either hate or love. And the most contentious of them are usually the best in the end. Nevertheless, they are all role models. Just role models for what? For hard work, ambition, outstanding athletic performance – but not from a moral point of view.
Only one icon is a hero in every sense of the word: Muhammad Ali. The heavyweight boxer was one of the most outstanding athletes of the 20th century, the “Rumble in the Jungle” was a world event.
In 1974: Muhammad Ali (r.) Boxes against George Foreman in Kinshasa, Africa. (Source: UPI Photo / imago images)
But the American became a legend not only because of his clout, but also because of his political commitment. He publicly rejected the Vietnam War, refused military service and supported the African American emancipation movement. This is one of the reasons why Ali was voted “Sportsman of the Century”.
Muhammad Ali, simply admirable
With a superstar and exceptional person like him, the sense of responsibility in all areas seems to come from an inner feeling. That is admirable.
But you also have to accept if a tennis player like Djokovic doesn’t want to serve as a moral role model. What did we expect please? One thing is certain: his current behavior will harm him. Sponsors will jump out, journalists will think three times in the future whether they should still ask him about political developments. But regardless of that, he remains a great athlete. And his diligence and ambition on the tennis court should continue to inspire people in the future.
Djokovic is not a pope, and neither is he a chancellor. He is an excellent athlete. No more and no less.
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