Announcement about the 2020 Kick Off 2 World Cup

[alkis21]

Dear friends,

We have been closely monitoring the situation evolving around Covid-19. After much deliberation and considering the contingency and prevention measures that are currently into place, on behalf of the Greek Organizing Committee I regret to inform you that the 20th Kick Off 2 World Cup that was scheduled to take place in Athens this year is canceled.

Trust me when I say that this decision was not taken lightly, and nobody is more upset about it than I am, as I had been looking forward to celebrating the game's 30th anniversary with my friends. As some of you may know, I am a professional congress organizer so I'm going to tell you what I tell all my clients who have an international event planned for 2020 in Greece: Whoever does not decide to make their event a virtual one or postpone it for 2021, they're taking a huge risk. We do not know how the situation will be in November, we cannot be sure whether there will be a second wave of cases or whether the prevention measures that will be in place in November will even allow us to host a Kick Off 2 tournament. At the moment, all events have the obligation to leave two empty seats between people inside a hall, which means that we wouldn't even be allowed to sit down and play with these measures. But even if things are perfectly safe and under control in Athens in November, how can we guarantee the same for every other country? Two of the most active KOA countries, Italy and England, were hit hard by the virus. Will every KOAer be allowed to travel to Greece and back in November, and if they will, will they want to? Or will it be considered too big a risk? I could take a poll and ask people now, but can I count on whatever answer you give me in June when none of us knows how it will be in November?

We waited as long as I could, but we are now at the point where people will consider buying their ticket and making plans, which means that it will be even harder if we cancel at a later date.

I really wish I had better news to tell you, I hope that you and your loved ones will stay safe and that we will have the opportunity to meet again in the near future when all this is behind us.

[durban]

Alkis,

I think this is the most sensible decision, we simply cannot see what the situation will be in November and leaving the decision any later would make it very diffucult for everyone involved.

I feel if politicians around the world were as up front and open about their own decision making it would be a better place.

I fully support this decision and hope that nobody has been left out of pocket, but sure the community will pull together to help those who have.

Regards

Mark

[Steve Camber]

Thanks Alkis, perfectly understandable in these strange times. I'm sure this is just a temporary delay to an epic Athens world cup, whenever the time is right. I of course shall be there.

[Rodolfo]

This is the sensible thing to do now.

The future is too uncertain, and although the nearer we would get to the date the clearer we could have seen the scenario, also would have meant a much bigger financial damage in case of the necessity of a last minute cancelation.

We will meet again in a World Cup.

[Lee W]

gutted doesn't come close... but perfectly understandable, i don't envy you having to make the call!

let's get an online, virtual WC going!

[manicx]

This is the safest for all. Playing a game and meeting with friends is something that should be enjoyable and fun. Even if this was taking place, it wouldn't be fun, not to mention all the precautions in a very uncertain autumn/winter to come. 2020 is the worst year of my life. Disappointed that it coincides with the 30th anniversary of KO2.

[iankay]

That's no surprise, I hope I can join you all for a World Cup in Greece another year.

[Freshmaker]

A tough decision, but the right one to make. Let's all look forward to the 2021 Athens World Cup.

[Torchiador]

Just 2 weeks before the pandemic was declared we couldn’t even barely figure out what would have happened in the very next months after that.
At the moment we can just HOPE the situation could get better.
We can see that most of the things in most of the countries struck hard by pandemic are better now but every is still uncertain. In Italy we don’t even have a certain date for the schools to open back.
It is a very sad decision but i think it also is the only sensible choice.

No Christmas this year.

[Peter K]

Hey guys,

i also think, that this is the only right decision. Its sad but true (Metallica;-))
I think we all have enough things to handle with this fucking pandemic and we dont need more issues in case of a uncertain world cup with all that comes along with it.
I really hope we can see each other next year in the athens World Cup, because this year most off the things we love and cheer for, where we suck energy out of it for the rest of the year, where canceled and stolen by this fucking pandemic.
All year long i am waiting for kick off, festivals and holidays in foreign countries. And almost nothing can happen. Even Sport events where canceled or without fans.

But maybe lets focus on Lees idea (I had the same), to organise the first ever online Kick off World Cup.

Cheers Peter

[kanu2021]

We can organize the online Unnoficial World Cup, the game works perfectly unless you live outside of Europe. Or it is simply an international tournament instead of a world cup to avoid problems with the rules. We can do it, we have a perfect game working well (thanks to Steve)

[kanu2021]

we are organizing an online tournament. there are 16 players already registered
visit www.kickoff2.com if you want to join