SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico
Milton Segarra, president and CEO of Meet Puerto Rico, issued the following statement in response to ESPN’s decision to move the Tire Pros Puerto Rico Tip-Off Challenge from San Juan to Orlando due to on-going concerns over the Zika virus.
The annual tournament was moved from the Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando.
Segarra’s statement is shown in italics below:
We at Meet Puerto Rico are profoundly disappointed with ESPN’s decision to cancel the upcoming Tire Pros Puerto Rico Tip-Off Challenge—[originally scheduled] to be held Thurs., Nov. 17, Friday, Nov. 18 and Sunday, Nov. 20, at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan—due to concerns over the Zika virus.
ESPN’s official statement indicates that the cancellation is a result of concerns regarding the Zika virus; and we understand their concerns. However, following the MLB’s cancellation of their game earlier this year, the CDC’s Dr. Thomas Friedan was quoted as saying, "...it was 'unfortunate' that [the MLB] decided to scrap a two-game series in Puerto Rico and move it to Miami amid [Zika virus concerns]."
Prior to the Olympics Dr. Friedan said, “the risk of Zika is not high other than for pregnant women.”
In addition, ESPN’s statement ignores the following facts:
- Puerto Rico continues to collaborate with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Puerto Rico Department of Health to combat the virus and prevent it from spreading any further.
- The state of Florida is also in the process of dealing with Zika cases.
- Puerto Rico recently hosted a major city-wide conference for the Jehovah’s Witnesses—the largest city-wide convention of the year, from August 22-31, hosting more than 34,500 attendees from the United States, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Colombia and Cuba who stayed throughout the island, from San Juan to Ponce for a total of 7,500 room nights.
- Equally important, from March 1, to Sept. 30, 2016, Meet Puerto Rico will have hosted 132 group for a total of 84,990 room nights and 211,000 delegates. Our attendees have followed the instructions provided by the CDC and to our knowledge, none of [them] contracted Zika.
As a matter of fact, the World Boxing Organization is coming to Puerto Rico, Oct 15- 22, 2016.
On our website we have posted several positive testimonials confirming the positive nature of the visits. Please click on this link to view the testimonials. By taking proper precautions as outlined by the CDC, our visitors can have a safe, fun and productive visit to Puerto Rico. Our doors are always open to the ESPN to return and play.
In ESPN's initial press release announcing the decision to move the Tire Pros Puerto Rico Tip-Off Challenge from San Juan, Pete Derzis, senior vice president, ESPN Events, released the following statement.
“We enjoy the beauty and accommodations that are afforded in Puerto Rico and [made] every effort in playing the event in San Juan, but the concern for student-athlete and spectator welfare became the primary driver in the decision,” Dervis said. “We intend to return to Puerto Rico in the future.”
