Paris (AFP)

"We still hope to have 5,000 spectators," said Roland-Garros director Guy Forget on Thursday, the day after the government announced new gathering restrictions to contain the upsurge in the Covid-19 epidemic in France.

"We have not received any notification when I speak to you from the government or the police headquarters. For the moment, we are on this gauge of 5,000 places. Discussions will take place in the coming hours. , I hope, to see under what conditions "the Parisian Grand Slam will be organized, exceptionally postponed to the fall and which opens on Sunday.

On Wednesday evening, the Minister of Health Olivier Véran had announced the lowering to a thousand people, instead of 5,000, of the maximum level for major events in the eleven metropolitan areas in "enhanced alert zone", including Paris, from Saturday.

And had referred to a consultation between the prefect and local elected officials to detail its application.

"We are able to accommodate this population, as small as it is, for the moment 5,000 people, on a 12 hectare stadium. We are waiting to see the evolution of the file in the coming hours, or by tomorrow (Friday), to see how we're going to start and run this tournament, ”Forget added.

"Even if we must remain extremely careful, we have all the guarantees that this tournament will take place in maximum security conditions, he insisted. We are responsible, but all this must be done with the approval of the government."

"We play the tournament on the equivalent of fifteen football fields, outdoors. (...) Everyone wears a mask, even ball collectors and chair umpires," he further pleaded.

© 2020 AFP