The Australian tennis federation, organizer of the Australian Open, lost more than 100 million Australian dollars (about 70.8 million dollars or 62.2 million euros) due to the impact of covid-19 in fiscal year 2020-2021.
According to the federation’s annual report, the losses were mainly due to the cost of player quarantines, security measures and crowd restrictions. in stadiums due to the pandemic at the Open held between January and February and other tournaments.
“This result is consistent with expectations and reflects the challenges in the business environment during the covid-19 pandemic,” indicates in the report Tennis Australia, official name of the federation.
The federation last year changed the start of the fiscal period from June to September.
For this reason, losses include 24.8 million Australian dollars for the period between June and September 2020 and another 75.1 million Australian dollars for the following twelve months until September 2021.
In fiscal year 2019-2020, the federation made a profit of A $ 4.2 million (about $ 2.9 million or € 2.6 million), compared to the earnings of A $ 10.6 million (about $ 7.5 million or € 6.6 million) in 2018-2019.
Tennis Australia, which will hold the next Open in January, added that it has adapted to covid-19 in the organization of tournaments.
Due to the measures that govern in the country, the Open, which will take place in the city of Melbourne, will require a mandatory vaccine against covid-19 the public, workers and players.
This measure has generated a controversy on the part of the world number one, the Serbian Novak Djokovic, who refuses to reveal if he has been vaccinated or if he is willing to do so in order to participate in the tournament, which he won last year.