Novak Djokovic had impending payments owed by the Serbian government, but late submission of relevant paperwork means he'll now need to wait for another four years.
The story was reported by SportKlub, one of the most prominent tabloids in the Balkans, which claim that Djokovic is owed a sporting pension for his efforts in winning a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The directives as prescribed at the time, were that remittances would be done once an athlete turns 35.
The Tennis Federation of Serbia (which handles country-wide tennis protocols), did not submit the necessary documents in time for the Serbian government to include Djokovic's bronze medal in its portfolio of national award winners. In fact, the application deadline expired one month before the new regulation came into effect.
Djokovic celebrated his 36th birthday in late May this year, but there is a kicker to those regulations. They were amended in April 2009 when the government changed the retirement age from 35 to 40. The late application was therefore not considered after the new rules were in place because Djokovic would have started to receive those payments as early as May 2022 when he turned 35.
Since Djokovic is now 36, he has lost 14 months of sporting pension payments and is expected to miss out on an additional 36 months before he becomes a pensioner.
But that is not expected to give Djokovic any sleeping difficulties. The 36-year-old is the highest prize money earner in tennis history, accumulating over $170 million. Besides that, Djokovic's raked over $30 million through various endorsements and sponsorship deals in 2022 and ranked 23rd in the Forbes list of the world's highest-paid athletes last year.
The World No. 2 is preparing to play at this week's Cincinnati Masters and the US Open - two events he missed out on in the past year due to Covid-19 restrictions.
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