Wimbledon Will Pay Out Prize Money To Players, Hailed As A ‘Leader Of the Sport’
Aside from paying the players the AELTC have announced that they will also pay all LTA licensed officials who would have worked at the Championships this year. (Picture courtesy: Wimbledon/Twitter)
The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) announced they will allocate $12.5 million worth of prize money to the 620 players who would have been part of the tournament.
This will be made possible because The Championships are one of very few major events that had insurance cover that covered them for a health crisis like the coronavirus pandemic. An allocated sum of £10 million will come from the insurance policy.
After consultations, the organisers released a statement saying that 224 players who would have competed in the qualifying round will each get £12,500; 256 players who would have competed in the singles main draw will get £25,000.
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In addition 120 players who would have competed in the main draw of the doubles will each get £6,250; 16 players who would have competed in the wheelchair events will receive £6,000; and four players who would have played the quad Wheelchair events will each receive £5,000. The statement said that each player will receive payment for one event.
“Immediately following the cancellation of The Championships, we turned our attention to how we could assist those who help make Wimbledon happen,” Richard Lewis CBE, AELTC Chief Executive, said. “We know these months of uncertainty have been very worrying for these groups, including the players, many of whom have faced financial difficulty during this period and who would have quite rightly anticipated the opportunity to earn prize money at Wimbledon based on their world ranking.”
“We are pleased that our insurance policy has allowed us to recognise the impact of the cancellation on the players and that we are now in a position to offer this payment as a reward for the hard work they have invested in building their ranking to a point where they would have gained direct entry into The Championships 2020,” he added.
The AELTC will also pay the LTA licensed officials who would have worked at the Championships this year.
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The Championships’ decision has been lauded by the tennis fraternity with players taking to their social media handles to praise them for it.
“Amazing news -- always a class act and leader of our sport. Well done @Wimbledon - can't wait to be back next year," tweeted former world number one and four-time major singles winner Kim Clijsters.
Many others, which included Nick Kyrgios -- an outspoken critic of associations trying to get the game back to reduce financial distress -- also tweeted out in support of the decision and hailed it as progressive.
“While the next Championships is still 12 months away, we will be taking the opportunity to watch and learn from the experience of other sports organisations and entertainment events as they return in order to prepare for every possible outcome,” the statement added.
The organisers have also said no public ballot will be created for next year’s season and ticket holders from this season will be able to get them transferred and be able to watch the next season’s match on the same day from the same court.
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