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Alex de Minaur Australian Open 2019

Alex de Minaur denies being ‘under investigation’ for falsified Covid passport


Alex de Minaur has denied his involvement with an illegal fraud ring and has revealed he is not under investigation as had been reported.

It was reported this week that Spanish police believed Alex de Minaur was one of a number of high-profile names to have used a falsified Covid-19 passport in order to bypass Covid restrictions.

The fraud ring responsible is said to supply high-profile people such as actors, businesspeople and a range of sportspeople with fake PCR tests or Covid-19 passports.

It was found that fake PCR test results could be bought for roughly €50 ($57 or £41), whilst false Covid passes were available for €200 ($227 or £166).

Spanish police have revealed that the leaders are based in France and that there have been 11 people in total who have been arrested and accused of “forgery and the use of forged documents.”

The investigation uncovered a total of 2,200 people who have been accused of fraudulently registering as having been fully-vaccinated, according to French outlet Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Among those reportedly accused and under investigation was World number 32 and Australian icon Alex de Minaur.

In a report published by Spanish television station Telemadrid, it was said “the Australian tennis player Alex de Minaur, of a Spanish mother and a Uruguayan father, is one of the last investigated as an alleged client of the false Covid passport plot.

“The tennis player joins the list of top-level athletes, businessmen, musicians and actors who, supposedly, could have made use of the network that provided false Covid passports and PCR.”

However, de Minaur has since responded via social media and has outright denied the allegations. The Australian wrote “I wanted to write a quick message here to avoid any misunderstanding regarding a report that is in the Spanish media about my vaccination certificate.

“I received my first dose of the vaccine in London last summer, and the second one at the Hospital La Paz in Madrid.

“News came out today that the hospital is under investigation for providing falsified Covid certificates to some of its patients.

“I want to make it 100% clear that I received my second shot [vaccine], that I have a completely valid, accurate and true vaccination record. Everyone around me, including my family, is fully vaccinated.

“I am not ‘under investigation’ in any way as is being suggested and my name is connected to this story simply because I was a patient at the hospital (as many thousands of others were).”

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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.