It is the story of a gauge which is reduced like the skin of sorrow.
First set before the summer at 11,500 spectators per day before being reduced to 5,000 on September 17, will the maximum limit for the number of daily spectators authorized at the Roland-Garros tournament which begins this Sunday still be lowered?
There are strong reasons to consider it because of the progression of the coronavirus epidemic in France, especially in Ile-de-France.
The Minister of Health Olivier Véran indicated this Wednesday during his weekly press briefing that in the eleven French cities classified in “enhanced alert zone” the gauge of gatherings was reduced from 5,000 to 1,000 people “from Saturday”.
The main large French cities have integrated this category such as Bordeaux, Lyon, Nice, Lille, Toulouse, Saint-Etienne, Rennes, Rouen, Grenoble, Paris and its inner suburbs.
The minister specified that these reductions would be decided "at the end of a consultation between the prefect and the local elected officials".
The fate of the tennis tournament which is due to open this Sunday at Roland Garros with four months of delay compared to its initial schedule is in the hands of the authorities.
This reduction is a blow to the organizers of the event who had made welcoming the public one of their dearest wishes.
Behind closed doors at the Velodrome
Beyond the only case of the Porte d'Auteuil tournament, the sanitary screwdriver poses a threat of the return of the camera for the sports meetings of different team sports.
This is also the case in Marseille this weekend with the reception of Metz on Saturday evening.
Marseille has been classified as a “maximum alert zone” and all meetings at the Vélodrome will be held in camera until further notice.
In the Paris region, we are not there yet but on Saturday, at Paris-La Défense Arena, Racing 92 receives the English club Saracens.
We can think that this semi-final of the European Rugby Cup will have to take place in front of a thousand spectators and not 5000 as hoped by the leaders of the Sky and White.
The day before, the boxing evening between the two French heavyweights Tony Yoka and Johann Duhaupas should pass between the drops.
However, a little hope remains.
Olivier Véran stipulated that "the objective of the measures
(Editor's note: taken in the zones of maximum alert)
is that they do not last more than two weeks".
