Roland-Garros will take place with the public – Alessandra Tarantino / AP / SIPA
- Gilles Moretton, president of the French Tennis Federation, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, general manager and Guy Forget, head of Roland-Garros, held a press conference on Wednesday.
- On the menu: the new health standards to which the 2021 edition of the tournament to be held from May 30 to June 13 must meet to welcome the public.
- Between zoning, gauges and sanitary pass … 20 minutes takes stock of an organization that is even more complicated than it looks.
From the public to Roland-Garros in 2021 and an iron frame to meet health standards. This is what should be remembered as a priority from the press conference held on Wednesday by Gilles Moretton, President of the FFT, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, general manager and Guy Forget, director of the tournament which will be held from May 30 to June 13. A fortnight in two stages, with a first week limited by a gauge of 35% then an end of the tournament with 65% of the public in the stadium thanks to the government authorization to raise the ceiling of the gauge. It looks complicated like that at first glance and it gets even more complicated when you dig a little deeper. But don’t panic, we’re here to explain everything to you.
Roland-Garros divided into six zones
Small precision vital to understanding the schmilblick in the preamble. Roland-Garros will be divided into six zones, or, to use the technical term, six establishments open to the public (known as ERP-PA): the Philippe-Chatrier court, the Suzanne-Lenglen court, the Simonne-Mathieu court, courts 2 to 5, courts 6 to 9 and courts 10 to 14. Each ERP-PA will have its own maximum capacity of spectators (we will come back to this) and if circulation between the different zones is possible, it will be subject to a strict control in order to avoid a surplus of spectators in such or such zone. Bye-bye rushes to court 14 in the event of Coco Moutet’s epic fight against an obscure Argentinian. All you have to do is pray to be the first to smell the right game to watch.
5,388 spectators per day until June 8, then 13,146
Concretely, Roland-Garros will welcome a maximum of 5,388 spectators per day during the first ten days of the fortnight, with a maximum capacity of 1,000 people on the Chatrier, the Lenglen and the Simonne-Matthieu.
From June 8, 13,146 spectators can be admitted daily into the stadium, with a significant increase in the gauges for the major courts. 5,000 for Chatrier and Lenglen against 3,437 for Simonne-Mathieu.
Health pass required for the public
A health pass will be required for spectators wishing to enter the stadium. They will thus have to present “either the result of a negative PCR or antigen test of less than 48 hours, or a certificate of vaccination, or a certificate of remission, that is to say the production of a positive test result. more than two weeks and less than six months ”, detailed Amélie Oudéa-Castéra.
One night session open to the public
No luck, but, unsurprisingly, the organization of the tournament did not obtain any government exemption relating to the curfew. All the “night sessions” will start at 9 p.m. without an audience, Roland-Garros closing at 8:45 p.m. All except the last one, on June 9, which will be done with the public thanks to the third phase of deconfinement, which plans to push back the curfew to 11 p.m. An appointment qualified in advance of “great moment” by Guy Forget and for which places will certainly be expensive.