MELBOURNE(Australia): The organisers have decided to allow daily crowds between 25,000 and 30,000 at the Australian Open.
Victoria state’s Sports Minister Martin Pakula said it equated to some 390,000 spectators across the two-week spectacle — around half the attendance of last year.
“That means on Rod Laver Arena, as we get to the end of the tournament, we’ll have an incredible atmosphere, not that different to the atmosphere we’ve seen in all the Opens in years past,” said Pakula.
The event’s Covid-safe plan allows a daily crowd of 30,000 for the first eight days of the Slam, then 25,000 from the start of the quarter-finals.
“It will not be the same as the last few years, but it will be the most significant international event with crowds that the world has seen for many, many months.”
Victoria has now gone 24 days without any new locally acquired cases of the virus and all players who arrived in Australia had to undergo a mandatory 14 days of quarantine.
Eight positive cases were detected from the more than 1,000 players, coaches and officials who flew in on 17 charter flights.
