Real Madrid striker Luka Jovic is facing charges from the Serbian government for breaking his mandatory 28-day coronavirus quarantine.
Serbian state news agency, Tanjug, confirmed the news on Thursday.
The president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, declared a state of emergency on Sunday in an attempt to curb the coronavirus outbreak.
One of the measures is a 28-day quarantine for all Serbian citizens travelling home from European countries most affected by the virus, including Spain.
"The prosecutor’s office in Belgrade confirmed to Tanjug that it has instructed the police to press charges against soccer player Luka Jovic for breaching self-isolation measures after arriving in Serbia from Spain," the agency said.
"Jovic breached the self-isolation when he left his apartment in the Belgrade suburb of Vracar and his excuse was that he went to a pharmacy to buy medicaments.
"If he breaches the quarantine again, he faces harsher measures and possibly arrest. The law applies to everyone and the authorities will not discriminate regardless of what one does for a living."
It was reported by local media that the Serbian international returned home from Madrid earlier this week to visit his girlfriend after La Liga matches in Spain were suspended.
Jovic has since responded on Instagram, insisting he had permission from Real Madrid to fly home while he also claims that he was not properly instructed regarding the Serbian government's quarantine restrictions.
"In Spain, I was allowed to move to a pharmacy and a supermarket so that I could get the groceries I needed, which is not the case here," Jovic said in his post.
"I apologize to all the people if I compromised them in some way and I hope we can manage to get through all this together.
"Support Serbia and let's stick together!"
Real Madrid have yet to comment on the matter.
The Spanish Ministry of Health put the latest coronavirus toll at more than 17,000 confirmed cases and 767 fatalities on Thursday while Serbia has so far registered 97 confirmed cases and no deaths.
