Italian tennis player Camila Giorgi has denied receiving a fake COVID-19 vaccination certificate to compete in tournaments.
Italian media reported last month that doctor Daniela Grillone named Camila Giorgi as one of the people who came to her looking for a fake document. Speaking for the first time about the allegations after her 2-0 (6:0, 6:1) win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first round of the Australian Open, Camila Giorgi insisted she had done nothing wrong.
“The doctor was investigated, she has been in trouble this year with the law several times”, said the 31-year-old Italian, who is ranked 70th in the WTA world rankings. “I’ve had all my vaccinations at different places. So it’s her problem. Not mine. I’m very relaxed about that. She said my name, of course, but there are more than 300 people whose names she announced”, added she.
Several tennis tournament host countries have required players to be vaccinated to play in the past two years, including Australia and the United States.
Camila Giorgi admitted that one of her vaccinations was given by doctor Daniela Grillone and that she used documents given by the doctor. But she denied she had deliberately sought a fake certificate, saying: “No, not at all”.
Camila Giorgi, who reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in 2018, appeared confused when asked if she had tried to verify the authenticity of her vaccination or received an extra dose.
