Aussie tennis star Alex de Minaur denies report he’s being investigated over fake vaccine pass

Aussie tennis star Alex de Minaur has denied a report he’s being investigated by Spanish authorities as part of a fake vaccine pass scheme.

Australia's Alex de Minaur hits a return to Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas on day five of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Ahoy Rotterdam, on February 11, 2022. Picture: Sander Koning/ANP/AFP

Aussie tennis star Alex de Minaur has denied a report he’s being investigated by Spanish authorities as part of a fake vaccine pass scheme.

The 23-year-old, who represents Australia but lives in Spain, was named in a Telemadrid report on Thursday as one of a number of high-profile people caught up in fake vaccination passport network.

Spanish police this week arrested and charged 11 people with “forgery and the use of forged documents” after selling the passes to more than 600 people, 7 News reports.

Among the clients are reportedly well known people in Spain including actors, businesspeople and sports stars.

The group are alleged to have paid people working in the health system to falsify documentation and upload incorrect proof of vaccination data into government databases.

“The Australian tennis player Alex de Minaur, of a Spanish mother and a Uruguayan father, is one of the latest investigated as an alleged client of the false Covid passport plot, Telemadrid has learned,” the Spanish-language outlet reported.

“The tennis player joins the list of top-level athletes, businessmen, musicians and actors who, supposedly, could have made use of the network that provided false Covid passports and PCR tests.”

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— alex de minaur (@alexdeminaur) February 17, 2022

In a statement posted to social media, de Minaur said he was fully vaccinated and shot down suggestions we was “under investigation”.

“Hi everyone. I wanted to write a quick message here to avoid any misunderstanding regarding a report that is in the Spanish media about my vaccination certificate,” he wrote.

“I received my first dose of the vaccine in London last summer, and the second one at the Hospital La Paz in Madrid. News came out today that the hospital is under investigation for providing falsified Covid certificates to some of its patients.

“I want to make it 100 per cent clear that I received my second shot, that I have a completely valid, accurate and true vaccination record. Everyone around me, including my family, is fully vaccinated.

“I am not ‘under investigation’ in any way as is being suggested and my name is connected to this story simply because I was a patient at the hospital (as many thousands were).”

De Minaur competed at the Australian Open last month, where players were required to be fully vaccinated or to have a valid exemption.