Paris (AFP)
The hypothesis of playing behind closed doors Roland-Garros, rescheduled from September 27 to October 11, is "absolutely" ruled out, said the president of the French Tennis Federation (FFT) Bernard Giudicelli Wednesday during a telephone press conference .
To the question "is the hypothesis of playing the tournament behind closed doors dismissed?", Mr. Giudicelli replied: "Absolutely".
The US Open, which must end two weeks earlier in New York, will be played behind closed doors.
According to French government measures put in place to combat the spread of the new coronavirus, a maximum gauge of 5,000 people until the end of August, common to all sporting and cultural events, is currently fixed.
How many Roland-Garros plans to welcome spectators?
"It will be a number, a percentage which will be defined by mutual agreement with the public authorities. This kind of option requires real cooperation with the public authorities. It is still premature to be able to give even an estimate today, "said the president of the FFT.
"We have several work sequences by the end of the month and it is only around this time that we will be able to say how we are going to organize and market the ticket office," he continued.
"We are working with the public authorities on the organization of the tournament. We have not yet made a final decision," he said.
Roland-Garros was initially scheduled for late May-early June, but the world tennis calendar has been turned upside down by the coronavirus pandemic.
© 2020 AFP