The Wimbledon Championships have pledged to pay 10 million pounds (12.6 million U.S. dollars) to players despite this year's tournament cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organizing All England Lawn Tennis Club said Friday.
The grass-court Grand Slam is allocating funds to 620 players from all disciplines whose world ranking would have enabled them to gain entry into the tournament. The 256 players who would have competed in men's and women's singles main draws will each receive 25,000 pounds, while 224 players who have competed in qualifying competitions will each receive 12,500 pounds.
"We know these months of the uncertainty have been very worrying for the players, many of whom have faced financial difficulty during this period," said the club CEO Richard Lewis.
"We are pleased that our insurance policy has allowed us to recognise the impact of the cancellation on the players and we are now in a position to offer this payment as a reward for the hard work they have invested in building their ranking to a point where they would have gained direct entry into The Championship 2020," added Lewis.
Organisers will also distribute money to officials and international umpires. Wimbledon received over 100 million pounds (126 million U.S. dollars) insurance indemnity for the cancellation of its 2020 edition due to the coronavirus.
In addition, Wimbledon announced that the seeding formula it has used for the men's singles draw since 2002 will be discontinued beginning in 2021. The seeding will be based solely on the ATP Rankings next year.
