Capacity Crowds At Wimbledon
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imbledon’s Men’s and Women’s finals will be held in front of a full crowd at the All England Lawn and Tennis Club (AELTC) as one of 20 pilot events planned by the UK Government as COVID restrictions ease.
Yesterday, AELTC announced 50% capacity crowds will be permitted from the beginning of the tournament on June 28 with full capacity allowed at centre court on finals weekend.
Speaking on the announcement, AELTC chief executive, Sally Bolton, thanked those who have worked and continue to work towards delivering “the best championships possible.”
“We are thrilled to be able to stage The Championships in front of a minimum 50 per cent capacity crowd as part of the Government Events Research Programme and extend our thanks to all those who we are working closely with to make this happen from Government, the public health bodies, Merton, and of course our own teams,” Bolton said.
“We hope that the COVID-status certification requirements for ticket-holders, and the Minimised Risk Environment for players, their teams and officials, will provide the reassurance to those in our community, and all those who make Wimbledon happen, that we will deliver on this paramount objective,” she said.
British secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, Oliver Dowden, added this capacity increase is possible thanks to the vaccine rollout and “what we have learnt so far from the Events Research Program.”
“We are the first country in the world to be able to return a Grand Slam tournament to full capacity for the Men’s and Women’s final since the pandemic broke,” Dowden said.
“We will be trialling COVID-status certification at The Championships in order to get as many people back as safely as possible across all the sporting and cultural events that make the Great British summer so special,” he said.
Other events in the UK government’s Events Research Programme have included the FA Cup semi-final and final and the World Snooker Championships and the extension of the program will include England’s group games for the Euro 2020 tournament.
According to SporsPro Media , events that are not part of the pilot program must adhere to restrictions set out on May 17th.
These include outdoor venues with seating capacity of 16,000 or more limited to the lower of 10,000 or 25% of capacity, outdoor venues with less than 16,000 limited to the lower of 4,000 or 50% of capacity and indoor venues limited to the lower of 1000 or 50% of capacity.
