(Bloomberg) -- The BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California, will no longer take place because of coronavirus concerns, the tournament said in a statement.
Riverside County's Public Health Department declared a public health emergency for the Coachella Valley, tournament officials said in a statement. After consulting with the Centers for Disease Control, state of California and medical professionals, the decision was made to cancel the tournament.
The men's and women's tennis tours earlier had said they would proceed with restrictions at Indian Wells and other upcoming events including having ball kids wear gloves on the court, and asking players not to give match-used towels or shirts to fans. Ultimately, however, the decision was taken to cancel Indian Wells entirely.
“It is not in the public interest of fans, players and neighboring areas for this tournament to proceed,” Dr. David Agus, professor of medicine and biomedical engineering at the University of Southern California, said in a statement released by the BNP Paribas Open. “We all have to join together to protect the community from the coronavirus outbreak.”
The tennis tournament in Indian Wells, while not a major in the sport, is a landmark tournament that was to have featured top stars including Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal on the men's side.
To contact the reporter on this story: Derek Wallbank in Singapore at dwallbank@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chua Baizhen at bchua14@bloomberg.net, Max Zimmerman
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