[ad_1]
French tennis chief Bernard Guidicelli admitted Sunday that Roland Garros, already controversial for four months due to the coronavirus, could be represented behind closed doors.
Guidicelli, who said the French federation (FFT) “did not regret” his unilateral decision to move the clay court Grand Slam from May 24 to June 7 to September 20 and October 4, insisted that all options remain on the table.
“We have not ruled out any option. Roland Garros is above all a history of games and players,” he told the Journal du Dimanche.
“The tournament is taking place in the stadium and the tournament on television screens.
Millions of viewers around the world are waiting. Hosting it behind closed doors would allow part of the business model, television rights (representing more than a third of tournament revenue) to continue. This cannot be overlooked. “
The spread of the coronavirus has halted all tennis since mid-March and will not resume until July 13 at the earliest.
Wimbledon has already been canceled for the first time since World War II.
The US Open, to be held in New York from August 31 to September 13, is also in doubt, with a decision expected in mid-June.
Nearly 500,000 fans regularly attend Roland Garros each year.
However, on Thursday, when the FFT decided to refund all tickets purchased by the tournament’s original date, rather than transferring them, an indication came in regarding the thinking around the 2020 edition.
Guidicelli admitted that the rescheduled start of the French Open could even be delayed by a further week to start on September 27.
That would allow a two-week break between the US Open and Roland Garros.
“I have regular conversations with Andrea Gaudenzi (ATP President), Steve Simon (WTA President) and David Haggerty (ITF Chief) and another call is scheduled for next week to see how we have progressed.
“We are working well together, but it is still a little early to accurately determine the timetable.”
Guidicelli is convinced that the FFT was right to delay the tournament for four months with France’s death toll from the coronavirus of 26,310 on Saturday night.
“Roland Garros is the driving force behind tennis in France, it is what fuels the players in our ecosystem (€ 260m in revenue, or 80% of FFT turnover),” added Guidicelli, describing himself like the “good father”.
“We first think of them, protecting them. We made a brave decision and today, no one regrets. “
“An undated tournament is a boat without a rudder, we don’t know where we are going.
“We positioned ourselves as far away on the calendar as possible, eager not to damage major events, so that no Masters 1000 or Grand Slam would be affected. The turn of events seems to have proved us right. “(AFP)
[ad_2]
