The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) has confirmed that this year\u2019s edition of the Wimbledon Championships will not take place due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus (Covid-19).<\/p>\n
The Championships had been due to run from 29 June to 12 July in London, but concerns over the ongoing situation with coronavirus led the AELTC to cancel the 2020 tournament altogether.<\/p>\n
The AELTC had considered switching the competition to later in the year, but said as it is likely that current restrictions in the UK \u201cwill continue for many months\u201d, there was no possibility of rearranging the event. Instead, the 134th edition of the Championships will take place from 28 June to 11 July 2021.<\/p>\n
This will be the first time the Championships has not taken place since 1945, when the tournament was coming to the end of a six-year suspension due to the outbreak of World War II.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has weighed heavily on our minds that the staging of the Championships has only been interrupted previously by World Wars but, following thorough and extensive consideration of all scenarios, we believe that it is a measure of this global crisis that it is ultimately the right decision to cancel this year\u2019s Championships, and instead concentrate on how we can use the breadth of Wimbledon\u2019s resources to help those in our local communities and beyond,\u201d AELTC chairman Ian Hewitt said.<\/p>\n
AELTC chief executive Richard Lewis added: \u201cWhile in some ways this has been a challenging decision, we strongly believe it is not only in the best interests of society at this time, but also provides certainty to our colleagues in international tennis given the impact on the grass court events in the UK and in Europe and the broader tennis calendar.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, European football governing body Uefa has announced that all matches across its Champions League and Europa League tournaments will remain suspended until further notice.<\/p>\n
Uefa initially\u00a0postponed the games last month\u00a0in response to the outbreak of coronavirus, and at the time said it would issue further updates as the situation progressed.<\/p>\n
However, with many countries across Europe having rolled out strict measures to combat further spread of the disease, both events will remain suspended for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n
Uefa also announced that all national team matches for men and women that were due to be played in June 2020 will be postponed until further notice. This includes play-off matches for showpiece men\u2019s European Championship 2020 and all qualifying matches for the Women\u2019s European Championship 2021.<\/p>\n
The organisation had already announced that the\u00a0Euro 2020 tournament would be moved to next year, with the competition now set to run from 11 June to 11 July.<\/p>\n
The cancellation of national team games also applies to all scheduled friendly matches, youth-level events and futsal competitions. In addition, all deadlines related to all 2020\/21 Uefa club competitions will be postponed until further notice.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, North America\u2019s Major League Baseball (MLB) has also announced that its MLB London Series will not take place due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Chicago Cubs had been due to play the St. Louis Cardinals at London Stadium over the weekend of 13-14 June<\/p>\n
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Gamblers aged 25 and under will be banned from joining operators\u2019 VIP schemes in the UK while those permitted to join will be subject to new controls, as part of a series of voluntary reforms intended to reduce gambling-related harm in Great Britain.<\/p>\n
The new restrictions on VIP schemes were announced alongside significant changes to advertising practices, as well as new guidelines for game design, including a minimum 2.5-second slot spin speed.<\/p>\n
The Gambling Commission will now launch a consultation on adding the restrictions agreed upon by operators to the Licensing Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP). However, it expects Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) members to restrict and prevent under-25s from joining high-value customer schemes within three months.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, all customers eligble to join VIP schemes will be required to pass a series of checks relating to spend, safer gambling and enhanced due diligence, before they can take advantage of incentives. Reward programmes will also be required to have full audit trails, detailing operators\u2019 decision-making processes and specifiying management oversight and accountability.<\/p>\n
VIP schemes have proved particularly controversial, after\u00a0Gambling Commission data published in January this year\u00a0revealed that while just 2% of customers at nine leading operators are VIPs, they account for 83% of deposits.<\/p>\n
This agreement was reached through one of three\u00a0industry working groups\u00a0established by the Commission in January this year, involving over 30 operators and suppliers, and coordinated by the BGC. This saw the Commission run workshops with those that had experienced gambling related harm first-hand, supported by input from problem gambling charity GamCare and its service users.<\/p>\n
The VIP working group was led by GVC Holdings, while Sky Betting and Gaming oversaw a group looking at changes to advertising practices, while efforts to develop new standards for responsible game design were led by Scientific Games and Playtech.<\/p>\n
Through these working groups, further changes to advertising practices and processes, and changes to game design, have also been agreed.<\/p>\n
The advertising working group\u2019s efforts have resulted in the industry committing to taking action to reduce the amount of online advertising seen by children, young people and vulnerable adults.<\/p>\n
These actions include compiling a list of common \u201cnegative search terms\u201d such as those around self-exclusion. The industry also agreed to gather \u201cbetter and more consistent\u201d data, in order to make sure that targeted ads do not target vulnerable groups.<\/p>\n
Like VIP schemes, the industry agreed that social media and \u201cpay-per-click\u201d (PPC) advertising should also only be targeted at those aged 25 or over when possible. Gambling-related YouTube channels and content must also feature age restrictions going forward.<\/p>\n
In addition, the industry also said that it would adopt and send to all affiliates a new code of conduct, which the Commission said will be amended and updated regularly.<\/p>\n
The industry working group added that it would establish a permanent cross-industry Adtech Forum, which it said would \u201censure an on-going focus on making further progress in this area, including conducting and evaluating trials of advertising technology\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Gambling Commission said it was satisfied with these commitments and would expect them to be enforced from July.<\/p>\n
The game design working working group, meanwhile, agreed to set a minimum spin time of 2.5 seconds for all slot games. It has also committed to removing features which \u201cmay encourage intensive play\u201d, including slam stops and turbo buttons, as well as split screen slots which the Commission said were \u201cassociated with potential loss of control\u201d.<\/p>\n
A more detailed plan of work is to be released in September 2020, alongside a final code of conduct.<\/p>\n
However, the regulator said that it believed the group needed to do more work to remove harm in the area of game design.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Gambling Commission\u2019s view is that while some progress has been made, this work must now go further and faster, in particular around using demographics and behaviours to indicate risk,\u201d it said. \u201cThe Gambling Commission will now consult on the priority areas for immediate action as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBy working together with operators and seeking the views of people with lived experience of gambling harm we have been able to make significant progress, although there is always more to do,\u201d Gambling Commision chief executive Neil McArthur added. \u201cWe will now consult on the necessary changes to our rule book to ensure all operators have to meet the new standards.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brigid Simmonds, chair of industry body the Betting and Gaming Council, said she was pleased to see the industry come together to help tackle key problem areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am pleased with our members\u2019 hard work and continued commitment to delivering substantial progress on the three safer gambling challenges set by the Gambling Commission on high value customers, advertising and game design,\u201d Simmonds said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese measures, along with our recently announced\u00a010 pledge action\u00a0plan for Covid-19 safer gambling and our 22 industry safer gambling commitments, will significantly transform and improve the environment for our customers and the wider public.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe agree with the Gambling Commission that there is still more work to do and we will rise to the ongoing challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n
McArthur said it was important that the changes were implemented quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been encouraged by the progress on VIP incentives, safer advertising and safer products,\u201d McArthur said. \u201cWe set these challenges in order to deliver real and rapid change for consumers in key areas of risk. However, it is important these commitments are implemented as soon as possible. It should not take months to implement safeguards many would expect to be in place already.\u201d<\/p>\n
McArthur added that the implementation of the new rules may be difficult for some operators while many are still affected by the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak.<\/p>\n
\u201cI recognise that the Covid-19 outbreak will impact on next steps and actions, in particular land-based operators,\u201d McArthur said. \u201cI welcome the fact that the operators involved and the BGC have remained committed to progressing this work during these difficult times. That is a positive sign of their commitment to make the industry safer.<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately actions speak louder than words and any operator that does not put consumer safety first will find itself a target for enforcement action.\u201d<\/p>\n