Is Roger Federer Putting His Life in Danger by Playing the Exhibition

Published 11/05/2019, 2:39 AM EST

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Roger Federer will face the next-generation star Alexander Zverev in an exhibition match in Chile as part of a Latin American tour that also includes stops in Colombia, Argentina, Ecuador and Mexico.

The duo will face off at the 12,600-seat Movistar Arena in Santiago on November 19. The event was in doubt because of the controversies going on in Chile, however, the organizers confirmed that the Swiss maestro and the German will not just play the match but they will also take part in off-court activities in Santiago.

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Federer also confirmed his participation at the event despite unrest situations in Chile. “Hi, Chile. I can’t wait to play in Santiago against my good friend Alexander Zverev. See you,” said Federer.

For three weeks, Chile has been disputed and more than a million protesters took to the streets of Santiago, the capital in one day. The ongoing Civil protest throughout Chile is in response to a raised subway fair, increased cost of living, privatization, and inequality prevalent in the country.

After the secondary school students began protests in Santiago, the situation escalated expeditiously as the protesters rose in insurrection across Chile’s capital, seizing many stations of the Santiago Metro network and damaging 81 stations with 17 stations burned down.

On the same day, President of Chile – Sebastián Piñera announced a state of emergency, authorizing the deployment of Chilean Army Seguridad across the city to prevent further destruction of public property. A curfew was also declared on October 19 in the Greater Santiago area.

The protests have continued from there on and last night, amid protests, a gunshot was heard on the streets of Santiago and captured in a video.

Amidst all this, an ITF tournament is lined up in Colina this week and Roger Federer is also scheduled to play in Santiago after two weeks. The biggest question arises is – will Roger Federer be safe to play in Chile?

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However, Rodrigo Sanchez of Fenix Entertainment Group has promised to provide a high-level of security to the 20-time Grand Slam champion. He said: “I have to make Federer’s humility stand out, and he is very available in coming to Chile. He is a person who is worried about every detail. He did not ask for anything special, but just what a tennis player asks to. We will guarantee him a top-class security.”

Roger Federer will tour to Latin America after a long time and will commence his tour from Santiago on 19th November. He will then head to Buenos Aires, the next day. He is also scheduled to play in Bogota and Mexico City on 22nd and 23rd November respectively before concluding his tour in Quito, the next day.

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Written by:

Varun Khanna

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Starting off as a tennis author in 2018, Varun Khanna has gone on to contribute to EssentiallySports in various capacities. After setting up interviews with the likes of Serena Williams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou, Alizé Cornet, and Noah Rubin, Varun is now part of all major ATP and WTA press conferences and has gone on to pen more than 1300 articles for EssentiallySports. He now heads the tennis and NBA division of the organization.
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