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It is so heartbreaking to hear today that the ASB Tennis Classic had to be canceled.
This is just the Rugby Championship again, right?
The government cannot say yes and that is why we lose the tournament.
It seems that in the end Karl Budge, the tournament director, just ran out of time.
He has been waiting months for a definitive yes or no from the government to his quarantine plans.
But it is understood that he has been told that he will not get the signature this side of the election, or possibly even for a few weeks afterwards, and, without a yes, he cannot assure the players.
What he had asked the government was to allow international tennis players to isolate themselves for three days and then, after a negative covid test, be allowed to play the tournament while they were still in their two-week isolation period.
This is not a radical idea.
This is how tennis tournaments are being held around the world right now: in bubbles.
This is what the Australian government is considering for the Australian Open in February.
It is essentially the same dispensation that has been given to Australian rugby players who are here right now for the Bledisloe cup matches.
Three days of isolation, test negative, allowed them to begin bubble training while still in their two-week isolation period.
These players wouldn’t come from all over the world. They would come from that Australian Open in February, because Budge was proposing to hold the ASB classic later than normal to attract those great players, and if the government had said yes, he would have secured ‘multiple ten positions’ players.
You have to have feelings for Karl Budge. This guy has worked so hard to make this tennis tournament worthy of tennis greats like Serena Williams. That takes years to accumulate and only a moment to lose. We cannot assume that events like this, once they go, necessarily return.
The government has to start adapting to a post-covid world. This disease is not going to go away quickly. It will be with us for years. We can’t keep saying no to events like this for years. Just look at the Rugby Championship: if we say no, another country more agile, agile and flexible than us will take it.
They will tell you that this is part of the plan to keep you safe. No, it’s not. There is nothing here to be safe from. None of us would go near these players. This is the result of not having any plans to adapt to a world with Covid.
Like I say, this is the Rugby Championship again.
