The Organizing Committee of the Australian Open tennis, the first major tennis tournament, admitted that next year’s version of 2021 faces the risk of being canceled in the worst scenarios, due to the emerging Corona virus, but they confirmed that they are considering a range of options in the hope that the crisis of “Covid-19” will fade. .
The "Covid-19" pandemic, which caused the death of about a quarter of a million people around the world, led to almost complete paralysis in sport and the suspension of yellow ball competitions from last March to at least July 13, including the cancellation of Wimbledon, the third of the Grand Slams, and the postponement French Roland Garros championship to September.
The organizers of the United States Championship, the last of the Grand Slams, will decide in mid-June whether or not Flushing Meadows will start on schedule in New York in August.
The inaugural championship for the season will be held in Melbourne from 18 to 31 January, after more than eight months, and the organizers said they will abide by any restrictions that will be applied at that time.
"We have never been afraid that we are studying some scenarios," a spokeswoman for the organizing committee told AFP. "We hope for the best but we are planning everything."
The options range from cancellation, quarantining foreign players, and only allowing Australian fans to attend the Grand Slam.
"We have to consider all options because a lot of decisions will be out of our control and related to government guidelines and restrictions, so we should have some ready protocols in order to ensure the safety of all," she said.