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Wimbledon urges players not to 'do a Jonny Bairstow' and tackle protesters
Wimbledon have warned players not to tackle protesters like Jonny Bairstow as the threat of Just Stop Oil activists looms.
With Wimbledon scheduled to begin from July 3, sports fans in England will be eagerly waiting for some action-packed tennis at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. All eyes will be on Novak Djokovic as he will look to match Roger Federer's tally of record eight Wimbledon titles.
Djokovic bagged a historic 23rd Grand Slam title in Roland Garros, defeating Casper Ruud in the French Open final. In doing so, he also set a new men's singles record and overtook Rafael Nadal. He also toppled Carlos Alcaraz to return to World No. 1 in the ATP rankings. But since then, Alcaraz has returned to pole position after winning the Queen's final.
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The Wimbledon organisers have also urged players to not 'try a Jonny Bairstow' if Just Stop Oil protesters attempt to spray orange paint over Centre Court. Such an incident happened in the ongoing 2nd Ashes Test, where Jonny Bairstow tackled a protester and carried him away. The organisers have also updated conditions of entry for spectators, who have been warned to not bring items like spray paint, personal protection sprays and glue, which could be used for sabotage.
Other than the ongoing Ashes series, the Grand National and world snooker championships was also disrupted recently. Reportedly, last week a Just Stop Oil activist told an undercover reporter that Wimbledon was in their sights. They were quoted as saying, "An image of someone’s hand glued to something on Centre Court would be amazing. That would be very inspiring. There’s a lot of people up for that."
Meanwhile, All England Club's operations director Michelle Dite revealed that the safety of players and visitors is of importance. "The safety and security of players, colleagues and visitors is paramount. Based on what has happened at other sporting events, and on the advice from our key partners, we have reviewed our security plans, which have now been uplifted for the championships accordingly", she said.
"Our conditions of entry, which were updated in April 2023, include guidance on prohibited items and disruptive behaviour. We have plans in place to mitigate the risks working in partnership with specialist agencies and the Metropolitan police and should an incident occur the appropriate specialist teams will respond," she further added.
