The organizers of the Wimbledon tennis tournament, canceled this year due to COVID-19, assured Friday that their priority was to hold the tournament in 2021 and that all scenarios were being considered, even a competition behind closed doors.
In early April, the 2020 tournament was canceled for the first time since World War II due to the pandemic linked to the new coronavirus when all of Europe was confined and the outlook was very uncertain.
“Holding the tournament in 2021 is our number one priority and we are looking very carefully at all possible scenarios to keep it going,” explained Sally Bolton, president of the All English Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), which is hosting the competition.
Well assured and faced with the difficulties of organizing the tournament in the fall for weather reasons, the AELTC had preferred to refund the tickets sold and wait.
The 134th edition of Wimbledon is scheduled from June 28 to July 11.
The scenarios studied by the organizers “cover three possibilities of varying dimensions: a tournament with full stands, a tournament with reduced capacity and a closed-door tournament,” the statement summarized.
All these assumptions are based “on what will be the government directives and health authorities,” said the organizers.
“We are working closely with the authorities concerned, as well as with the rest of the sports industry, to understand the changing challenges and the opportunities afforded by the pandemic”, they concluded.
.
