Greek authorities have given tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas until Dec. 12 to surrender his driver’s license after having rejected the latter’s claim that his father was behind the wheel of a supercar SUV clocked speeding at up to 210 kilometers an hour last September on a tollway heading to the Athens airport.
Under a recently stiffened traffic code, Tsitsipas faces a 2,000-euro fine and a one-year suspension of his driving license. A similar offense after a the first such violation carries a 4,000-euro fine and a two-year suspension.
According to media reports, Apostolos Tsitsipas, Stefanos’ father, appeared at the traffic police headquarters on Nov. 26 – some two months after the incident – with a payment receipt of 2,000 euros in hand to declare that he was driving the vehicle.
His assertion was not accepted by authorities, with the initial penalties against Stefanos Tsitsipas, the vehicle’s owner, remaining.
Further penalties are envisioned if the license isn’t surrendered.
The violation was caught on surveillance footage along the Attiki Odos tollway, a semi-circular ring road that extends across the breadth of northern Athens.
File photo: A Lotus hybrid SUV
