Cape Town Sevens cancelled due to Covid-19
This year’s Cape Town Sevens has been cancelled due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, World Rugby announced on Wednesday.
The event was provisionally scheduled for 4 to 6 December this year.
The Dubai leg of the series – with which the Cape Town event is paired – has also been cancelled.
The events were due to be the first two legs on the 10-tournament 2020/2021 World Rugby Sevens Series.
“This is a very disappointing development but far from unexpected,” said Jurie Roux, SA Rugby CEO.
“The HSBC Cape Town Sevens is a highly complex, international event that involves 28 men’s and women’s teams travelling from all the corners of the globe and considering the progress of the pandemic, both here and around the world, the prospects of being able to deliver our normal spectacular were extremely slim.
“The opening of air borders remains uncertain; the requirements of quarantining and the need for preparation time for teams really left us no choice. And even if we had been able to fly in 28 teams the likelihood is that we would have had to play behind closed doors, which held little appeal considering the unique nature of the event.”
The decision follows the recently announced conclusion of the series, with New Zealand confirmed as both men’s and women’s champions.
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The Singapore, Hong Kong, London and Paris legs of the Series had to be cancelled, with World Rugby and its partners now continuing to focus on planning for the remainder of the 2020/2021 Series and the build-up to the Tokyo Olympic Games.
World Rugby CEO Brett Gosper said: “While we share in the disappointment of players, teams, fans, hosts and everyone involved with the popular events in Dubai and Cape Town, this is a prudent decision taken with the health and wellbeing of the global rugby community and wider society as our top priority and guided by the relevant government and international public health authority advice. We look forward to welcoming these wonderful destinations back to the Series following this year’s hiatus.”