Opening of the tennis halls in Austria: ÖTV with an open letter to the Ministry of Health
The pressure on Austrian politics is growing. After hall operators have been demanding that the tennishalls be opened to amateur athletes for some time, the ÖTV has now also sent an open letter to the Ministry of Health.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Feb 22, 2021, 06:41 pm
Since the beginning of November, the majority of the around 170,000 tennis players who are organized in the member clubs of the ÖTV have been looking into the tube. The tennis halls have been closed to them since then due to the fight against COVID-19 - just like all other indoor sports. Training in the country's tennis halls is only permitted for a selected list of "top players", for which the responsible persons apparently left a lot of room for interpretation .
Now ÖTV is also turning to politics
The hall operators have not wanted to accept this for a few weeks - and are increasing the pressure on Austrian politics. The arguments of the hall operators: More than 150 square meters of space would be available to one person in tennis halls - calculated on the basis of playing doubles. In addition, tennis - like so many other sports - actively contributes to the health of those who practice it - and thus also plays a not insignificant role in fighting pandemics.
In the same vein, the ÖTV, which is now also actively addressing politics, and advocating the opening of the halls with an open letter. "The tennis family in Austria largely agrees that a consistent fight against the pandemic and the opening of the tennis halls are not a contradiction in terms, but rather can be combined with one another," is the letter, which was also written by ÖTV President Magnus Brunner, who in turn is ÖVP -State Secretary in the Ministry of Climate Change, signed, read, among other things.
ÖTV hopes to open "in March"
For the ÖTV it is not acceptable to only open the halls "around Easter", as politicians had recently said. Rather, the Austrian Tennis Association is now demanding "that our excellent arguments as representatives of hundreds of thousands of tennis players are heard. What we need is the willingness of the Ministry of Sports and Health to accept these arguments and take a differentiated look at the situation."
As can be read in the open letter, the ÖTV insists on an opening in March: "We are not giving up our efforts and hope and hope for your active support so that we can open the halls in March."