By Alix Ramsay
The president of the French Tennis Federation
(FFT), Gilles Moretton, has admitted that the French Open could be cancelled if
the country’s current wave of Covid infections does not subside soon.
On Wednesday, Emmanuel Macron, the president of
France, announced that he was extending the localised lockdown protocols; this
was to be a national lockdown, the country’s third. People are to work from
home, the whole country will be placed under curfew and nurseries and primary
schools will be shut. All domestic travel will to be restricted. These new
rules will last for a month at the very least and will start on Saturday.
Infection rates in France are amongst the
highest in Europe with Paris being one of the hardest hit cities. Macron has
been criticised for not imposing the national restrictions earlier and this
week, he was forced to impose the new rules to prevent the country “losing
control” of the virus.
If the lockdown only lasts for a month, it
would leave the FFT with a little over two weeks before the start of the French
Open (qualifying is due to start on May 17 and the main draw is supposed to
begin on May 23). But no one is sure what will happen if the lockdown is
extended.
“At the moment, we are on track, the tournament
is on the scheduled dates,” Moretton told the Independent in London. “But if we
are told to lock down for two months, we will have to take the necessary
measures, the worst being the outright cancellation, but I dare not imagine
that.”
At the moment, the FFT has several contingency
plans in place. “We are studying a lot of options for Roland Garros 2021,”
Moretton said. “There is a total range, or almost total because I dare not
imagine a 100 per cent crowd level.
“But that can start from behind closed doors to
a level that will not be 100 per cent. All the options with us are ready.”
Last year, the FFT managed to rearrange the
dates of the Open, moving from their usual May-June slot to September-October.
But even as the event went ahead – with 1,000 spectators allowed per day – the
bars and restaurants in the capital were being shut due to rising infection
rates. Nine months later, the situation is far worse and no one knows how long
the crisis will last.