Dirk Horforf, vice-president of the German Tennis Association, said in television statements that the organizers of the Wimbledon championship will announce this week the cancellation of the third major slam of the current season, due to the continued outbreak of the Coronavirus around the world.
All England Tennis Club officials said earlier that the tournament scheduled for grassland between June 29 and July 12 will not take place behind closed doors without an audience, and that the postponement involves many risks and difficulties.
The Wimbledon organizers said that they will hold a board meeting next Wednesday and that they will make the final decision during it, Horforf told Sky Sports television in Germany.
The German official added: I am also aware of what is happening at the level of the federal professional and tennis professionals, the decisions have already been taken and Wimbledon will take the decision to cancel next Wednesday. There is no doubt about that. This is a necessary step in the current situation.
It is completely unrealistic, and given the travel restrictions currently in place, it is envisaged that an international tennis tournament will attract hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world. This is hard to imagine, he said.
The All-England Tennis Federation did not respond to a request for comment.
After the Tokyo Summer Olympics 2020 was postponed to next year, the door was opened for sports activities or championships for two weeks between July and August this year.
However, this date may not be appropriate for Wimbledon due to the presence of only two covered stadiums in it and thus the inability to hold the tournament after the end of the summer.
Organizers of the French Open, the second grand slam of the current season, surprised the world of tennis by unilaterally announcing the postponement of the clay court, which was scheduled for next May to September due to the epidemic.
The French Tennis Federation came under heavy criticism from players around the world because of the lack of coordination, because the new date conflicts with the dates of several other tournaments scheduled in the program of the current season.
The ATP is keen on the participation of male and female players in the Grand Slam tournaments, but the new date for the French Championship has not yet appeared on the professional and tournaments program for the current season, though.
Hordorf said: The one-sided behavior of the organizers has come under criticism from everyone. Simply, I can expect that the French Open will not take place on the new date as planned.
He expected that the French Tennis Federation would continue to organize the tournament in the new season, ignoring the anger of the entire tennis family, or that the federation would begin coordinating with the rest of the parties and come up with a plan acceptable to all.
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