Paris (AFP)
The Roland-Garros tournament, postponed to the fall due to the Covid-19 epidemic, will welcome a maximum of 5,000 spectators per day, instead of the 11,500 announced just ten days ago by the organizers, said Thursday. to AFP the Paris police headquarters.
At the beginning of July, Roland-Garros had surprised by announcing ambition to welcome up to about 20,000 spectators per day, or "from 50 to 60% of its usual gauge".
Then, faced with the deterioration of the health situation in France and to comply with the government rule of a maximum capacity of 5,000 people in the red zone, the Parisian Grand Slam had to revise its ambitions downward for the first time. ten days.
The French Tennis Federation (FFT), which organizes the tournament, then presented an intermediate option which was based on the division into three "independent and autonomous" sectors of its stadium around its three main courts, Philippe-Chatrier (5,000 spectators) , Suzanne-Lenglen (5,000) and Simonne-Mathieu (1,500).
But, ten days before its kick-off (September 27-October 11) and only four from the start of qualifying, Roland-Garros has once again been caught up by the reality of Covid-19 and will therefore only be able to accommodate 5,000 maximum daily spectators.
In total, in fifteen days of competition, only 75,000 spectators will be able to attend the tournament.
Very far from the nearly 520,000 welcomed in 2019 throughout the Parisian fortnight.
Asked by AFP, the French Tennis Federation (FFT) immediately refused to comment.
Initially scheduled for the end of May-beginning of June, Roland-Garros had been postponed to the fall to everyone's surprise, at the instigation of its organizers, from mid-March.
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