A tennis complex built in just six months in Bosnia-Herzegovina for a tournament organized by the family of world No. 1 Novak Djokovic officially opened on April 12.
The facility, burdened by irregularities during construction and criminal charges over the bidding process, opened in Banja Luka just ahead of the scheduled start on April 16 of the Srpska Open, which is expected to draw several top players from the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour, including top-seeded Djokovic.
Hundreds of people attended the opening ceremony, including members of the Djokovic family, Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik, and Banja Luka Mayor Drasko Stanivukovic.
The government of Republika Srpska, one of Bosnia’s two entities, and Banja Luka, it administrative center, invested about 30 million Bosnian marks ($16 million) in the construction of the tennis complex, which has both outdoor and indoor clay courts, each with seating for several hundred people.
Transparency International in Bosnia in February filed a complaint against Banja Luka and the Republika Srpska government because money for the construction of the court was allocated to the Tennis Association in the form of a grant.
The complaint said the maneuver got around the legal procedure for seeking bids for construction projects.
Questions also were raised about the permit for the project. Construction began in November, but a permit was not issued until January and covered only preparatory work. The tennis complex received a valid building permit only a few days ago.
Authorities two weeks ago conducted searches in the Banja Luka City Hall, based on charges of abuse of official position against Stanivukovic and Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic.
The two were reported on February 9 by a member of the Republika Srpska National Assembly, Nebojsa Vukanovic, who has accused them of misusing budget funds for the construction of the tennis complex.
The Prosecutor-General's Office did not respond to RFE/RL’s request for information about the search, including whether a case had been opened.
Stanivukovic told RFE/RL in February that he assessed the construction of the tennis complex court to be in the national interest.
"You have to be brave to do things that are on the edge of legal norms but still in accordance with them and morally correct," he said.
Djordje Djokovic, brother of the tennis star and one of the principal organizers of the Srpska Open -- previously known as the Serbian Open -- visited the complex while it was under construction on several occasions but never commented on the criminal accusations or the lack of a building permit for construction.
"As far as we are concerned, we are the organizers of the tennis tournament. We do not deal with building permits or politics," he said at a press conference on March 7.
He founded the company Legacy International, a branch of his Belgrade-based company with the same name, in Banja Luka at the beginning of November.
The tournament is usually held in Belgrade but has been moved to Banja Luka for 2023 while the existing grounds in the Serbian capital are renovated.
The tournament, which is scheduled to run from April 16-23, is part of the ATP 250 series. Aside from Djokovic, other current and former ATP top 10 players registered are Andrei Rublev, Stanislas Wawrinka, and Gael Monfils.