CAPE TOWN - Tennis South Africa (TSA) has welcomed Thursday’s gazetting of the sport-specific alert level 3 directions by the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture.
According to the TSA, subject to ministerial approval, the following categories of players and their coaches will be allowed to return to training and play shortly:
- ATP, WTA and ITF players.
- Players training and preparing for national championships.
- Any players in a national, provincial, district or academy squad – subject to the squad being recognised by TSA and the relevant province or district.
- Any players training for official district or provincial club leagues.
This means that social and recreational players will not be allowed to return to play for the time being.
Now that the sport-specific directions for alert level 3 have been gazetted, the next steps are as follows:
- TSA will be submitting an operational plan (including compliance guidelines), for the resumption of tennis, to the Minister this weekend. This document will be shared on the TSA website once submitted and will provide the relevant facilities, players and coaches with clear operational guidelines.
- In the plan, TSA will be requesting approval for a return to training and coaching as soon as possible and preferably before the end of next week.
- In the plan, TSA will also be requesting approval for a staggered resumption of selected tournaments in four-six weeks’ time.