COVID-19 Pandemic: Austria to Allow Tennis, Golf And Other Social Distancing-Friendly Sports

Some sports compatible with social distancing like Tennis, golf, and F1 to resume from May 1 as Austria government started loosening it’s Coronavirus lockdown. The Alpine republic acted swiftly against the outbreak by closing restaurants, bars, theatres, schools, non-essential shops and other gathering places roughly four weeks ago. The public have been told to stay at home and work from there if possible.

However, members of the public have remained relatively free to do exercises like jogging or cycling, provided they respect social distancing rules. Also, there is no need to carry a curfew pass like in France nor is there a limit of one outing per day as in Britain.

“Of course, individual sports where there is no immediate contact will be given priority more quickly over team sports where contact is generally unavoidable, or contact sports,” Sports Minister and Vice-Chancellor of the Austrian government – Werner Kogler, told a news conference.

Kogler is not against the idea of this years Formula One Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring taking place without spectators, he said. “We don’t want to get in the way,” he told reporters when asked if the government would allow the race to take place.

Kogler said travel restrictions could be a bigger hurdle than social distancing rules.

“This must then be considered within the framework of the existing restrictions on entry and exit (into the country),” he said. “I don’t want to anticipate if an exemption will be needed here or there.”

Meanwhile, outdoor facilities which will continue to remain unavailable for the public include athletics tracks, tennis courts, golf courses, equestrian centres, shooting ranges and archery ranges, he added.

Kogler said dangerous outdoor sports like ski touring, which is often conducted away from ski resorts, would be allowed but he urged those doing them to stick to ‘something easy’ to avoid accidents.

Austria has reported 393 coronavirus deaths in total so far, fewer than some larger European countries have been reporting daily. It has had more than 14,000 confirmed cases.

Roughly 600 top athletes will be allowed to resume training, including indoors with stricter limits on distancing, next week.

Plans are also being made to restart Austria’s top soccer league, with strict testing requirements and matches being played in empty stadiums.

Initial consultations with tennis federations had produced 10 recommendations, such as marking players’ balls so their opponent does not touch them and different ‘behaviour at the net’, Kogler said.

(With Agency Inputs)