Amid the rising coronavirus cases across the globe, the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) on Wednesday said that it is evaluating all scenarios, including a postponement or cancellation of Wimbledon 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Wimbledon may be cancelled or postponed due to coronavirus COVID-19
Notably, Wimbledon 2020 is scheduled to be played between June 29 and July 12 but considering the ongoing scenario due to the spreading virus, it seems highly unlikely that the prestigious tournament would be held as per schedule.
The AELTC is going to host an emergency meeting of its Main Board next week and would consult the ATP, WTA, the ITF, and other Grand Slam during the meeting to take a final call over the hosting of the event.
However, the AETC has confirmed that it will not host Wimbledon 2020 behind closed doors. The AELTC said in a statement, “The AELTC can confirm that it is continuing a detailed evaluation of all scenarios for The Championships 2020, including postponement and cancellation, as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.”
The statement further added, “The AELTC has been contingency planning since January, working closely with the UK government and public health authorities to follow their advice and understand the likely impact of COVID-19 and the government’s emergency measures on The Championships, and our thoughts are with all those affected by this crisis at this time.”
The statement also added, “An emergency meeting of the AELTC Main Board is scheduled for next week, and in preparation, we are communicating closely with the LTA, and with the ATP, WTA, ITF and the other Grand Slams. The build for The Championships is due to begin at the end of April. At this time, based on the advice we have received from the public health authorities, the very short window available to us to stage The Championships due to the nature of our surface suggests that postponement is not without significant risk and difficulty. Playing behind closed doors has been formally ruled out.”
Meanwhile, the ATP and the WTA have suspended the tour until June 7 due to coronavirus and the entire clay-court season except French Open has been wiped out.
According to the Johns Hopkins University’s latest graph, the global toll due to coronavirus on Wednesday night reached 20,499 with total confirmed cases of 4,51,355.
