Pandemic insurance is off the table for 2021

WIMBLEDON have admitted there is no chance of repeating their masterstroke of having pandemic insurance for 2021. This morning would have seen the start of the Championships, which were cancelled on April 1. Unlike many other sporting events, the All England Club are shielded from the worst financial effects by having continually reinforced their policy guarding against such circumstances as the outbreak of coronavirus. The current state of the insurance market means it will not be feasible to have such a product in place next year, according to chief executive Richard Lewis. ‘That’s impossible in the current climate,’ he conceded. ‘In the immediate aftermath you can’t get insurance, but fairly soon after you can start to get insurance again. The market returns. ‘So there won’t be insurance next year, but just because we’ve made one claim it won’t affect us in the long term.’ The procedure is enormously complex, involving negotiations with more than 10 different companies and brokers, and it is a long way from being settled. Any precise estimate of what they will receive is uncertain, but according to sources, a realistic expectation is a sum in excess of £100million. While the Covid-19 situation has eased, new Wimbledon chairman Ian Hewitt has no regrets about the decision to abandon the tournament this year. ‘The cancellation of the Championships was hugely disappointing for us and a painful decision,’ he said. ‘But we knew that it had to be done. It was the right thing to do, we have no doubt about that. ‘And we believe the timing was right.’