Australian Open ‘most likely’ to delay due to Covid-19

Australian Open ‘most likely’ to delay due to Covid-19

By Web Desk
November 25, 2020
Australian Open ‘most likely’ to delay due to Covid-19 / Photo: AFP 

The Australian Open next year is ‘most likely’ to delay by a week or two, the Victoria State Sports Minister said on Wednesday, Reuters reported

The grand slam is scheduled to take place in Melbourne from January 18 to 31. However, the negotiations between the state government, Tennis Australia and health officials about the possible delay in the tournament next year is underway with no definite changes announced yet.

Talking to journalists in Melbourne, the Victorian Sports and Tourism Minister, Martin Pakula said, “There are a number of potential dates on the table. I’ve seen reports that suggest that it’s likely to be delayed by a week or two. I think that’s still ‘most likely.’”

The Labor Party representative said that unlike in French Open, the delay in the Australian grand slam will be relatively shorter. “As you know, the French Open was delayed by many months and Wimbledon didn’t occur at all. I still think it’s much more likely that it will be a shorter rather than longer delay,” he added.

The state premier Dan Andrews was also confident that the tournament would go ahead but with slightly changes in the schedule due to the pandemic. Standing firm on quarantine requirements, the 48-year-old added that he can’t ‘jeopardize’ his state’s coronavirus-free status for a tennis tournament.

“We’ll have an Australian Open tennis tournament but (it’ll) have to look different. The rest of the world is on fire so there will be quarantine for anyone coming to our city and state, there’s just no way around it,” Andrews said.

“As important as a tennis tournament is, we’re not going to jeopardize our coronavirus status by anything other than the highest standards,” he added. 

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