June 23, 2020 – The Croatian Sports Secretary, Tomislav Druzak, comments on whether the events at the Adria Tour in Zadar will affect the course of Croatian sporting events.
Gol.hr reports that after the dramatic events in Zadar at the Adria Tour, many are wondering how it is possible that the corona outbreak even occurred. Recall, Croatia long hesitated about how and when to allow the start of sports training and the continuation of seasons.
Gol.hr asked the Croatian Secretary of Sport, Tomislav Druzak, whether the events in Zadar will affect the course of Croatian sporting events.
You were in Zadar, and you saw everything. Who was in charge of supervising the entire tournament and following the epidemiological recommendations?
“The Zadar tournament was supposed to be a wonderful sports and promotional story for Croatian sports and the country. To a large extent, it was. The organization was carried by the Croatian Tennis Federation, i.e., the people who hosted the Adria Tour, which was led by Goran Ivanisevic as the director and the entire team of Novak Djokovic who ran the tournament. The organization was at a high level from the sports aspect of the story. The other part, where the after-parties took place, I wasn’t familiar with that. I think it could have been done without it, that the whole story would have been much more beautiful if it weren’t for the parties.”
Was the organizer obliged to test the players before the start of the tournament?
“From the epidemiological point of view, that was not obligatory. However, I would have carried it out, had I been the organizer. I was even convinced that some testing had been conducted, especially when we know where a large number of tennis players and support staff are coming. If that had been done, we would probably have had a slightly better situation today. “
Given recent events, are you considering restricting or introducing new measures when it comes to training and sporting events?
“I think that the Croatian Institute of Public Health and the Central Office for Sports, together with the Croatian Olympic Committee and other factors, i.e., national federations, have really made an effort and that we have made precise and quality measures to ensure the continuation of all sporting events. I think it would be a step backward to go towards closing sporting events. The virus has shown that it is there, that it lives with us, that we have to get used to it and that we finally start applying these recommended measures,” said Druzak.
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