Rene Stammbach: Crucial that the Davis Cup can be played in Madrid This Year

Swiss Tennis President Rene Stammbach says that he has never worked as hard in his life as during the current tennis shutdown, in an interview to La Regione. Stammbach  is a Board member at the ITF and responsible for Finance at the organization - an area whose importance has increased during the current crisis.

Stammbach says, "Never in my life have I worked as intensely as in these days. We have telephone sessions and video conferences every day. For us it is crucial that the Davis Cup can be played in Madrid because it represents a large part of our income. We have implemented savings measures where possible, but all we save is actually a lack of investment in the future. Development is one of the main items in our budget. It's not just about resizing our projects, but the support we provide to smaller federations is also failing. Half of the 110 million of our budget is at risk. The ITF also has more than a hundred employees. We have not yet implemented personnel measures, but there are those who even think that the tour will start only with the Australian Open of 2021. All institutions are in difficulty. ATP and WTA are missing everything, many tournaments have been canceled. We are talking about large organizations with many payroll employees. We are all in the same boat, and we are sailing in troubled waters."

Stammbach also spoke about the difficulties in coordination between the different tennis bodies but says the ITF is on constant contact with the ATP & WTA on working together during this crisis. "Not everything has always gone smoothly between the various institutions of world tennis but my president is in continuous contact with the ATP and WTA managers to find common solutions. As for the slams, they are in a different position. Normally there is contact with the French Federation of Roland Garros, but this time they had no choice. They have invested heavily in the new stadium. They spotted the two weeks between September 20 and October 4, and took them. They went on their way. In such a situation you have to be responsible for your business: in fact, that's how they did it. It's strange that they didn't ask us."

Stammbach is the President of Swiss Tennis since 2006 and since 2011 he has been the Vice-President of the Governing Council of the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2Kf0fF1