Experts suggest Novak Djokovic’s positive Covid-19 test was ‘manipulated’

Questions are being asked about Novak Djokovic’s positive Covid-19 test, after an investigation uncovered a damning detail in the digital record.

Serious questions are being asked about Novak Djokovic’s positive Covid-19 test used as justification for his vaccine exemption to enter Australia, with a major German newspaper suggesting the result may have been “manipulated”.

The unvaccinated Serbian tennis star, who has been embroiled in a visa saga with the Australian government after touching down last week to compete at the Australian Open, sought – and believed he had been granted – an exemption to the country’s vaccination requirements based on his recent prior Covid-19 infection.

Documents provided to court by Djokovic’s lawyers seeking to overturn his 11th-hour visa cancellation revealed that the 34-year-old took a PCR test at 1.05pm on December 16, and returned a positive result seven hours later.

But according to an investigation by Der Spiegel, the digital timestamps on Djokovic’s test result – accessed via Serbia’s public central test registry – suggest the test was not from December 16 at all, but rather 2.21pm on December 26.

“Such timestamps are normally produced automatically by corona test systems, marking when individual tests are entered into the relevant database,” the newspaper claims.

“That usually happens just a few minutes after the test result becomes available.”

A second, negative test result was also provided to court by Djokovic’s lawyers.

“That test was apparently meant to prove that Djokovic had since recovered from his Covid-19 illness,” Der Spiegel writes. “According to the documentation presented, it is from the afternoon of December 22 – and the timing of that test is confirmed by the digital timestamp.”

Questions have been raised about Djokovic’s Covid test. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

Djokovic was photographed training on January 12, 2022 at Melbourne Park. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

One possible explanation could be that the timestamps are generated when the person downloads the results from the server.

However, other details cast further doubt on the results.

The Serbian testing system assigns a consecutive identification number to each test. Djokovic’s positive test, allegedly from December 16, is numbered 7371999.

But the number for his negative December 22 test is 50,000 spots lower. Der Spiegel notes that according to Serbian health data, precisely 50,000 tests were performed between December 22 and December 26.

In other words, it appears the negative test was performed prior to the positive test and entered into the database, not the other way around.

“Based on these pieces of evidence, the most plausible explanation is that the positive test result was added to the official Serbian database on the 26th of December, and not on the 16th,” said IT experts with the digital security group Zerforschung, which worked with the newspaper to take a closer look at Djokovic’s test certificates.

In another twist, Der Spiegel reports that “things got strange” when it scanned the QR code linked to Djokovic’s positive December 16 test.

“At 1.19pm on Monday (CET), the result from the scan was ‘Test result Negative’,” the newspaper writes.

“Such a result would have destroyed Djokovic’s case for being allowed into the country. About an hour later, though, at 2.33pm on Monday, a second scan of the QR code returned a different result: ‘Test result Positive.’”

Novak

Novak

The newspaper said explanations for all these inconsistencies could only be answered “either by Djokovic himself or by Serbian officials”.

“Neither, however, have yet responded to queries sent by Der Spiegel,” it wrote.

The timestamp revelations come on top of earlier suggestions that Djokovic may have lied on his border entry forms by ticking a box saying he had not travelled, and was not planning to travel, in the 14 days prior to his flight to Australia.

Social media posts and other reports suggested Djokovic had travelled from Belgrade to Spain within that time window.

A statement on the form warns that “giving false or misleading information is a serious offence” and “you may also be liable to a civil penalty for giving false or misleading information”.

On its website, the Home Affairs Department warns that giving false or misleading information to the government is “a serious offence” carrying a possible jail term.

“If convicted, the maximum penalty is imprisonment for 12 months,” it says.

On Tuesday, Immigration Minister Alex Hawke released a statement saying he was still “thoroughly” considering whether to cancel Novak Djokovic’s visa, amid increasing pressure for the government to fix the “mess”.

“As noted yesterday in the Federal Circuit and Family Court, Minister Hawke is considering whether to cancel Mr Djokovic’s visa under section 133c (3) of the Migration Act,” the spokesperson said.

“In line with due process, Minister Hawke will thoroughly consider the matter. As the issue is ongoing, for legal reasons, it is inappropriate to comment further.”