The Australian Open tennis quarantine controversy raised questions about whether large-scale international sporting events could take place in the midst of a pandemic and could offer a preview of the difficulties facing the Tokyo Olympics this summer.
Players arriving in the Australian state of Victoria were quarantined 14 days before their grand slam games. Most were given five hours a day to go out and train in strict biosafety bubbles, but 72 players were unable to leave their hotel rooms and cannot practice, under strict quarantine rules after passengers on their flights tested positive for Covid-19 .
Some tennis stars have expressed anger and frustration at being held prisoner before the first grand slam of the tennis season. Among them, the eight-time Australian Open winner record, Novak Djokovic, who presented a list of proposals that would loosen restrictions on quarantined stars, including moving players to squares, better food and reducing the number of days isolation.
In response, Victoria’s Prime Minister Daniel Andrews said: “People are free to provide lists of demands, but the answer is no.”
Way to Tokyo: All eyes will be on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in 2020, which despite having been delayed a year due to the pandemic, has chosen to maintain the 2020 mark. The event will see athletes from all over the world descend on Japan this summer of July 23 on August 8, and the Paralympic Games from August 24 to September 5.
Japan has signaled that it is determined to move forward with the Games. In a New Year’s speech to the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee staff, President Yoshiro Mori said preparations will continue “as planned”.
Speaking to CNN last week, former International Olympic Committee official Dick Pound said the Games are unlikely to be postponed again and therefore any further delay would likely mean his cancellation.
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