Media reports: Further inconsistencies in Novak Djokovic's test certificate emerged
Since the publication of the court documents from Novak Djokovic's hearing in Australia - and with it his positive test certificate from December 16 - more and more inconsistencies have surfaced. As Der Spiegel reported, this certificate could rather indicate a positive test from December 26th.
by tennisnet.com
last edit:
Jan 11, 2022, 08:51 pm
At the moment there are primarily three parallel storylines in professional tennis. The one - normal, if you will - is that of the last preparatory tournaments for the Australian Open, which are being played in and around Melbourne these days - but especially among the men, they do not enjoy any noteworthy influx of top players. Then there would be the storyline that is currently playing out in social media and news houses around the world - namely where a topic has been determining the agenda for a few days: the exception regulation by Novak Djokovic and the quite bizarre circumstances surrounding the entry of the world number one to Australia as well the contradictions around the Serbs' COVID certificate.
And then there would be the third storyline, namely that of Djokovic himself, who seems to have already left this topic behind - at least externally - after his objection to the withdrawal of his visa was granted. Arrived yesterday on Monday at the site of the first major event of the year, the industry leader has already started preparing for the hunt for Grand Slam title number 21. Even though, given the current circumstances, the Rod Laver Arena would have to be completely banned. Only a video from the organizers themselves provided confirmation for the second session of the nine-time Australian champion.
From Unix timestamps and 1.6 billion seconds
The Serb has not yet commented on all the inconsistencies in connection with his positive COVID test certificate from December 16, on the basis of which Djokovic had received the exemption in the first place. And thus not to the research that Der Spiegel published on Tuesday: This was also dedicated to the test certificate, more precisely to the QR code on it. If you scan this, you reach a website with the name of the person tested, the test result and a test number.
So far, so unspectacular. However, a look at the URL of this website with the test certificate reveals much more. This namely contains a so-called Unix timestamp. This is a standard with which points in time can be mapped in URLs by counting up the seconds - starting from 01.01.1970 at midnight. The point in time in the relevant URL is around 1.6 billion seconds since the beginning of the "Unix era". Which, when converted, results in exactly December 26, 2021 at 1:21 p.m. and 20 seconds (CET). If the test result was negative on December 22nd, however, the Unix timestamp and date on the certificate match.
However, it is currently unclear whether this Unix timestamp really represents the time of the test result. On Tuesday evening, there was criticism of the research, according to which the timestamp rather reflects the time of the PDF download of the certificate.
No statement from Djokovic
In addition, the check digit mentioned at the beginning also has irregularities, as reported by Der Spiegel. On the basis of further public test certificates, it can be assumed that the first part of the code represents an ascending test ID, which also roughly corresponds to the PCR tests reported for Serbia at that time. The curiosity: The first test by Novak Djokovic, from December 16, 2021, has a higher ID (7371999) than the second test from December 22. (7320919) - which supposedly took place later.
In addition, the reported numbers of the PCR tests in Serbia contradict the timeline, as suggested by the COVID tests by Novak Djokovic. For example, 75,000 tests were carried out in Serbia between December 16 and 22, but the test IDs only show a difference of 50,000. Different between 22.12. and December 26th, where 51,081 official tests were carried out in Serbia. In other words, just as many as the test IDs would have matched if the supposedly first test had not been carried out on December 16, but on December 26.
Novak Djokovic has currently not commented on his exemption or his PCR tests in the run-up to his trip to Australia. None of the allegations can currently be confirmed or refuted. Although the Serb is already on the grounds of the Australian Open, competing for number one in the world is still pending. The objection minister has the right to withdraw his visa from the 34-year-old - and thus to deport him.