Will Wimbledon Be Played This Year?

Wimbledon will be played as scheduled for now according to media reports but if it does get cancelled there will be a refund made to ticket-owners and debenture-holders.

According to iNews.co.uk, there was a high-level meeting between organisers of various sports and the television broadcasters as they grapple with the after-effects of the coronovirus spread.

The coronavirus outbreak has led to a cancellation, suspension or postponement of a number of sporting tournaments around the world already. The first big casualty in the tennis world was the Indian Wells Open which was cancelled earlier this week, and now a couple of other tournaments have come out with their own updates.

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Things could change at the 11th hour obviously but for now Wimbledon looks to be going on as scheduled.

If the government deems the organisation of Wimbledon a threat to the spread of the illness, it could still be cancelled but with the tournament still more than three months away, it remains to be seen how the coronavirus could be contained.

According to culture secretary Oliver Dowden, who spoke with BBC, the government hasn’t reached a stage where sporting tournaments will not be cancelled, calling the need to suspend sports a bit premature.

He said:

“There was a huge crowd of people [at Twickenham for England v Wales]. There is no reason why people should not be going to those events.

“It is very premature to be talking about things like that.”

The Miami Open which is the year’s second Masters tennis tournament has come with a statement regarding the same, assuring fans it will go ahead as planned. There have been fears the year’s second Grand Slam at Roland-Garros could get cancelled but French Open authorities have also said it will be played on schedule.

However there are still problems question-marks over tournaments to be played in Italy after the country was put in total lockdown and all its sporting events were suspended till the first week of April. This puts question-marks over the hosting of the Italian Open which is scheduled for May 11.