MELBOURNE, Australia – It was late December and Craig Tiley was feeling well. After months of negotiations with government officials and the world’s leading tennis players, Tiley, the head of Tennis Australia, finally had the green light to set up the Australian Open in the midst of the pandemic.
Health officials and government leaders came up with the idea that more than a thousand people would arrive from overseas, including hundreds of players who would enjoy privileges during their 14-day quarantine period that Australian citizens could not. And the players agreed to spend virtually their entire day for two weeks in their hotel rooms, limiting their practice time on the court to just two hours a day.
“The players are great,” Tiley said of the deal for a limited quarantine period. “They realized that if they did not want to do that, there would be no Australian Open, no preliminary events and no chance of $ 83 million in prize money.”
A month later, Tiley, a native of South Africa and a former university coach in the United States, is at the center of growing anger from all sides after six people tested positive for the coronavirus on three charter flights upon their arrival in Melbourne.
The positive tests have put citizens off, some of whom have complained that Tennis Australia is endangering residents to satisfy millionaire tennis players. Victoria’s Chief Health Officer took action and ordered everyone on the leased planes, including 72 players who were supposed to exercise and spend time in the gym at the tennis center, to stay 14 days in their hotel rooms. , although none of the players tested positive.
Then came a report that the leading male player, Novak Djokovic, the leader of an emerging players’ association, had issued a series of demands, including reducing the isolation period for players who still tested negative and moved as many players as possible. private homes with a tennis court to facilitate training. Health officials quickly rejected them.
“We were overwhelmed by the flights and the challenges,” Tiley said on Monday afternoon during a teleconference with some of the people in quarantine. “I still had no place to hide.”
In a matter of days, Tiley went from one of the most visible cheerleaders for Australian sports to his front punching bag, while his organization’s signature tournament changed from a potential celebration in the rare corner of the world where the virus was kept. control to another symbol of virus uncertainty.
In the past 48 hours, government officials, including MPs and Agriculture Minister David Littleproud, have gone on television and attacked the decision to prioritize tennis over what they say are more important needs, such as bringing in seasonal workers, to facilitate the state border . restrictions or to allow 40,000 Australians to return from overseas. They can not in part because of strict limits on daily international arrivals.
The limits remain, even though Australia long ago ended one of the world’s most stringent virus – related shutdowns. In Melbourne, police have imposed an assault on the virus for almost four months. During that time, schools and businesses were closed and residents were only allowed outside for one hour (and later two) each day, either to exercise or to go to the grocery store or the pharmacy. They also had to stay within three miles of the house unless they had a permit.
The strict approach worked. Australia has one of the lowest per capita infection rates among major countries.
When the exclusion was lifted, Tiley struggled for months to obtain special privileges for tennis players he said were necessary to save the tournament. He insisted on keeping the championship as close as possible to the traditional start of January, rather than moving it to another country or postponing it until December, when vaccines would be more available.
He has promised to spend millions on charter flights and cover the cost of a limited quarantine of players arriving, plus a full quarantine for most of the remaining 1,200 people who will start for the Australian Open, which begins on February 8th. and three tuneup opportunities.
In an interview at the end of December, Tiley said there is no guarantee that life would be normal by December 2021. ‘Is it risky now? Yes, but it can be just as risky in December, ”he said.
The immediate risks became clear shortly after players started arriving late last week. First, it was reported Saturday that a flight attendant and another passenger tested positive on a Los Angeles flight (a third person later tested positive). Then Tiley announced that a passenger on an Abu Dhabi plane – Sylvain Bruneau, the coach of Bianca Andreescu, a US Open champion in 2019, admitted that he was the one – tested positive. On Sunday, it was someone, again not a player, on the plane from Doha, and another from the Abu Dhabi flight.
More than 70 players who chose to come to Australia on the assumption that they would be able to practice as long as they tested negative had to stay in their hotel rooms for two weeks. Many turned to social media to complain. Some asked to leave the country immediately and said they could not.
Victoria Andrews, the Prime Minister of Victoria, has rejected such moves. “People are free to provide lists of claims, but the answer is no,” Andrews told reporters. “There is no special treatment here.”
Tiley has denied players’ complaints that Tennis Australia did not warn them about the possibility of a strict quarantine without access to tennis courts.
He said there had been weekly calls for four months with members of the players’ boards for the tours for men and women, during which he made it clear that Australia has a mandatory 14-day quarantine requirement for anyone who has close contact with someone who has been tested. has. positive.
“I reminded them it’s always going to be a risk,” Tiley said during a teleconference on Monday. “Even now,” he said, “if there is a major outbreak, Victoria’s health commissioner can decide next week that no players can exercise during quarantine.”
Monday brought further complications as officials unexpectedly canceled all training at Melbourne Park until 3.30pm because they could not safely coordinate the arrival of so many people until later in the day.
Daria Abramowicz, the sports psychologist for the French Open women’s champion in 2020, Iga Swiatek, who missed her training session on Monday, said on Monday that all the uncertainty is testing the nerves of players.
“Information gives a sense of security and stability,” she said. “Everyone needs the adaptation tools at the moment.”
Tiley has undertaken to do everything in its power to make players more comfortable with extra food and exercise equipment. He said officials are examining the competition schedule, which begins Jan. 31, to find adjustments that can be made to help players who have not been able to practice for two weeks other than hitting balls against the walls of their hotel rooms.
“This is not a great situation,” he said. “You sit in your room for a period of 14 days.”