New Delhi: Roger Federer on Wednesday (March 25, 2020) announced that he and his Mirka will contribute one million Swiss Francs to the families who have been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak in Switzerland.
20-times grand slam winner Federer took to his official Twitter account and said, “These are challenging times for everyone and no one should be left behind. Mirka and I have personally decided to donate one million Swiss Francs for the most vulnerable families in Switzerland”.
Swiss tennis maestro added, “Our contribution is just a start, we hope that others might join in supporting more families in need. Together we can overcome this crisis! Stay Healthy.”
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) March 25, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic was first confirmed to have spread to Switzerland on February 25, 2020 following the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy. A 70-year-old man in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino which borders Italy, tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.
Switzerland has witnessed over 10,537 cases till 09:00 PM (IST) March 25, 2020 whereas, 149 people have died so far in the Swiss country due to the deadly virus.
Almost every sports event around the globe has been cancelled or postponed including the major Tokyo 2020-Olympics which has been postponed to 2021.
In Tennis, the All India Tennis Association (AITA) have cancelled all domestic tournaments with immediate effect. The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) also postponed play for six weeks for its men’s tennis tour and the lower-level ATP Challenger Tour. The decision covers the Miami Open, the US men’s clay court championships in Houston, and tournaments in Marrakech, Morocco; Monte Carlo, Monaco; Barcelona, Spain; BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells and Budapest; Hungary.
The Women’s Tennis Association also cancelled the Miami Open and the Volvo Car Open in Charleston, SC, as well as two international tournaments and said it will soon make a decision regarding scheduled European clay-court tournaments.
The French Open would also now take place from September 20 – October 4, 2020 which was scheduled to commence from May 24.
Many countries across the world have been under lock-down to prevent the virus from spreading. There have been over 4,33,172 positive cases around the global and over 19,677 people have lost their lives by Wednesday evening.
Source: Zee News