Wimbledon announces to pay prize money for cancelled 2020 season

The All England Lawn Tennis Club will pay £10 million ($12.5 million) in prize money to 620 players despite the tournament’s cancellation because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The All England Club has announced the prize money in lieu of the Championships 2020 alongside initial decisions for The Championships 2021 with the responsibility for those who rely on The Championships for their livelihood getting the utmost priority,

Wimbledon’s efforts to support those most affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic at a local, national and international level included the Wimbledon Foundation’s £1.2m coronavirus fund to support charities tackling the crisis response and recovery, the donations of strawberries, towels and balls intended for The Championships 2020, the distribution of daily hot meals to those in need in the local community, and contributions to the Player Relief Programme and wheelchair tennis fund established by the governing bodies of world tennis and a coaches fundraising scheme.

PRIZE MONEY

Tthe AELTC will distribute a total of £10m ($12.5 mn) in prize money in lieu of The Championships 2020 with regard for the circumstances of this year and in the spirit of the AELTC’s prize money distribution in recent years.

Based on world ranking, 224 players who would have competed in Qualifying will each receive £12,500; 256 players who would have competed in Main Draw Singles will each receive £25,000; 120 players who would have competed in Main Draw Doubles will each receive £6,250; 16 players who would have competed in the Wheelchair events will each receive £6,000; and four players who would have competed in the Quad Wheelchair events will each receive £5,000. Players will only receive payment for one event.

“Immediately following the cancellation of The Championships, we turned our attention to how we could assist those who help make Wimbledon happen. We know these months of uncertainty have been very worrying for these groups, including the players, many of whom have faced financial difficulty during this period and who would have quite rightly anticipated the opportunity to earn prize money at Wimbledon based on their world ranking,” said Richard Lewis CBE, AELTC Chief Executive, commented.

“We are pleased that our insurance policy has allowed us to recognise the impact of the cancellation on the players and that we are now in a position to offer this payment as a reward for the hard work they have invested in building their ranking to a point where they would have gained direct entry into The Championships 2020.”

OFFICIALS

The AELTC has also recognised the significant impact of cancellation and the absence of income from The Championships on the officiating community. In association with the LTA, the governing body for tennis in Britain, AELTC will provide a payment to the LTA licensed officials who would have worked at The Championships this year. A number of International Officials will also benefit from the offering.

2021 WIMBLEDON PUBLIC BALLOT

The AELTC has also begun to consider scenarios for The Championships 2021 and beyond.

Since the Wimbledon Public Ballot had been fully allocated for The Championships 2020 and subsequent decision to transfer those tickets to enable the successful applicants to purchase the same day and court for The Championships 2021, the AELTC will not stage the Wimbledon Public Ballot for 2021. The provision of any additional tickets for The Championships 2021 will be considered within our scenario planning.

SEEDINGS

The Championships 2021 seeding for the Gentlemen’s singles draw will be based solely on ranking. There will be no change to the method of seeding for the Ladies’ singles draw.

The AELTC will continue to develop additional ways to provide support and to show gratitude to those stakeholders involved in tennis and those workers on the front line of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the course of 2020 and in the build-up to next year’s Championships.

The 134th Championships will be staged from June 28 to July 11.

Admin Sportz Front

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