Final Decision on World Championships
The whole FIR Council had a long online meeting on Tuesday 25th August where the decision was made that the World Championships: Teams & Singles in Stockholm at the end of November would have to be cancelled.
A local recent rise in infections in Stockholm has meant that the current restrictions on the player capacity allowed inside the Enskede Rackethall has not been eased. It was expected that this restriction of 50 players for a tournament would have been lifted, but now there is no certainty when this restriction will be changed. With less than 3 months to go until the tournament it is simply impossible for us to be able organise a tournament as big and as complicated as the World Championship while there is still so much uncertainty.
Furthermore, from the feedback the FIR received from all our member countries it is also clear that too many countries believed it was very unlikely that they would have been able to fully participate.
So, after a huge amount of effort to try and do everything we could to hold a world championships this year, it is with great regret that this is simply not going to be possible. I send many thanks again to Guus and Erik and their team in the Netherlands who put in a lot of preparation and work for the planned Rotterdam World Championships and also to the Enskede Racketlon Club in Stockholm for giving us that option at such short notice.
SWT Racketfest, Leipzig
It’s also with regret that we have to announce the cancellation of SWT Racketfest in Leipzig (9 – 11th October). The tournament was facing a number of different challenges all connected with the uncertainty created by corona and with less than 6 weeks to go until the tournament, together with Deutscher Racketlon Verband it’s been decided there is simply too much doubt that we can stage a safe world tour event with so many international players.
2020 World Tour
However, in much more positive news, the other remaining tournaments on the World Tour are still planned to go ahead and preparations are well under way:
IWT Paris Open, Montreuil, 23rd – 25th Oct
Doubles World Championships, Prague, 5 & 6th November. ENTER HERE
IWT Czech Open, Prague 7th & 8th Nov. ENTER HERE
SWT Grawe SidebySide 14. Austrian Open, Graz. 20th – 22nd Nov. ENTER HERE
IWT Club La Santa Open, Lanzarote. 12th – 14th Dec. ENTER HERE
Coronvirus Prevention Plan at All Remaining Tournaments
At the FIR Council meeting, it was decided that a detailed corona prevention plan would be developed for each remaining tournament which took into consideration all the official local guidelines as well all the different factors specific to each tournament venue. These plans will be developed alongside the Tournament Director and venue management of each event and published to all players in advance of the tournament.
2021 World Tour
2020 has clearly been a hugely difficult and frustrating year for Racketlon and all sports, but with some great tournaments still planned for this year, we will also be able to make our first announcement about the 2021 World Tour in the next few weeks – and we have lots of very exciting news to share with you!
Duncan Stahl / FIR President
