By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday 23 July 2020
The American tells the New York Times that she confirmed her trip with an employee of the league after being fired for the season by World TeamTennis.
Photo source: Mark Peterson / Corleve
A few days after being fired from the American Tennis Team World 2020 season Danielle Collins he says he had no idea he couldn’t leave the event site at the Greenbrier Club in West Virginia.
“I signed a specific waiver for the security protocols and practices that were to take place during the World Team Tennis, and had no mention of not leaving the hotel,” Collins told New York Times Christopher Clarey.
The World Team Tennis experiment – an entire season in one place in a hotel “bubble” – is an important testing ground for all sports championships of the coronavirus age.
So far so good, except Danielle Collins, who insists that she made an honest mistake. Https://t.co/NCk7Kb9oNL
– Christopher Clarey (@christophclarey) 23 July 2020
CEO of WTT Carlos Silva He claims to have spoken on the subject on two occasions, once during a full-handed meeting in the stadium, held for the players and staff of the event, and again on July 15 with the team coaches and general managers.
Collins said he didn’t remember hearing Silva talk about the topic during the meeting he attended.
The story gets more complicated from there. Collins said he informed someone who refused to appoint WTT support staff who were traveling to Charlottesville, Virginia to buy supplements to help with rheumatoid arthritis.
“WTT staff were aware of this and didn’t say I couldn’t do it,” he told the New York Times.
Silva says the investigations left no trace of an employee of the league giving Collins the go-ahead for the trip to Virginia.
Collins had apparently also left Greenbrier on a previous occasion to take care of his dog.
Danielle Collins told me that she would not intentionally violate the WTT rules. But WTT CEO Carlos Silva said that the rule he mentions below was in effect since the beginning of the season and has not changed since the start. pic.twitter.com/HfKvG4xcFB
– Christopher Clarey (@christophclarey) 23 July 2020
Meanwhile, the WTT released a document highlighting its rigorous testing protocols on Wednesday.
According to World TeamTennis protocols, the championship has completed the mid-season COVID-19 tests of all players, coaches, coaches and staff for the three-week season at The Greenbrier in West Virginia. All 245 mid-season tests returned negative results for those who attended the event. This is the third test of the COVID-19 World Team. Tennis players, coaches, coaches and staff have been subjected to include pre-arrival, arrival and mid-season, for a total of 740 tests with all negative results.
Silva admits that the task of keeping Covid-19 out of a professional sporting event has been daunting. He hopes to set an example for the rest of the sports world and there is a lot of pressure that comes from that responsibility.
“It is important for sports in general that this is fine,” he told Clarey. “This isn’t just us. I cheer for the MLS I cheer for the NBA I cheer for a tennis show going on in Europe. I cheer for the US Open and are happy to share any knowledge gained here. It is not absolutely easy, I will tell you. ”
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