Wimbledon has boosted hopes that British sport will be able to house bigger crowds this summer by expressing confidence that it will host more spectators than its originally anticipated 25 per cent capacity.
A statement released on Wednesday morning by what is the biggest annual sporting event in the UK, came as an interesting contrast to reports in the past week about the growing Indian variant.
'While the health and safety of all our guests remains our highest priority, further to the Stage 3 relaxation of restrictions and early positive indications from the Event Research Programme, we are confident that we will be able to increase our ticketing capacities for The Championships this year beyond the minimum 25% position we set out last month,' said a spokesperson for the All England Club.
'This confidence is based in particular on the reintroduction of the rule of six indoors in restaurant settings from May 17, and early indications that Stage 4 guidance could include similar relaxations of the guidance for sports stadia.
'However, we also understand that there remains much discussion amongst government and public health authorities on this topic in light of the Indian variant, and we are committed to remaining flexible in our approach so that we are able to react accordingly.
'For this reason, we are continuing to leave confirming our ticketing capacities until as late as possible, with all tickets to be made available via an online sale, which we anticipate commencing in mid-June.'
It suggests that they have received an indication that, instead of the approximate 10,000 per day allowed into SW19 each day of the fortnight, the number will end up considerably higher.
This in turn would boost tournament revenue, so it could be good news for the players in terms of prize money which, unusually this close to The Championships, has yet to be announced.
Wimbledon is not short of close connections to a government which is already headed by a Prime Minister who is a noted tennis enthusiast in Boris Johnson. One of the All England Club's 12-strong main management committee is Lord Gus O' Donnell, formerly head of the civil service.
