ZCZC
BSP-04
TENNIS-ATP-MURRAY-HEALTH-VIRUS
Murray backs compulsory vaccine programme for tennis tournaments
LONDON, Nov 25, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Andy Murray said Tuesday that tennis
players should be required to have a coronavirus vaccination before they are
allowed to take part in tournaments.
With the 2021 tennis schedule facing inevitable issues with the Covid-19
pandemic, three-time Grand Slam winner Murray hopes the long-awaited vaccine
will be available by the spring and that a compulsory programme is rolled out
within tennis.
“I think that probably should be the case. I would hope that all the
players would be willing to do that for the good of the sport — providing
everything has proved to be safe, clinical trials and everything have been
done and there are not any significant side-effects,” Murray said.
World number one Novak Djokovic generated headlines earlier this year for
anti-vaccination comments.
He later said that he was not against vaccinations but did not like the
idea of being forced to have one.
Murray admitted it would difficult to force players to take a vaccine, but
he hopes common sense prevails.
“I guess it would be difficult. I also read a few weeks after he’d said he
(Djokovic) wouldn’t be keen on doing that, if it was something that had to be
done for him to play the sport, he would,” Murray said.
“So I guess we’ll have to wait and see what the ATP and the ITF
(International Tennis Federation) decide their position is going to be on
that. But I’m confident that players would be into it if it meant the tour
going back to normality.”
Strict quarantine rules in Australia have cast doubt on the viability of
the Australian Open, with players not able to arrive in the country until the
end of December at the earliest and then required to quarantine for two
weeks.
Discussions are ongoing over whether they will be able to train or compete
during quarantine, and Murray is anticipating that the tournament will be
pushed back from its planned start date of January 18.
“It’s obviously tricky for the players. Originally, we planned to go on
the 12th or the 13th of December to arrive around the 15th,” Murray said.
“Then that changed and the latest I’ve heard is that they’ve planned to
push it back a couple of weeks. I think that would be the best-case scenario
now.”
BSS/AFP/MSY/0918 hrs