Wimbledon is the latest victim of the Just Stop Oil activist group. On Wednesday, protestors ran onto Court 18 while the match between Grigor Dimitrov and Sho Shimabukuro was on, interrupting play until the dissenters were removed forcibly. They threw orange-colored confetti and a jigsaw on the grass court, and one of them even sat down cross-legged on the ground.
The fact that they were able to slip onto the court, amidst heavy security, will surely raise concerns for the remainder of the championship. Just Stop Oil released a statement using their official Twitter handle.
🎾 BREAKING: Just Stop Oil Disrupt @Wimbledon
🎉 “Once more, orange clouds hang over a British sporting event this summer—this time it’s ticker tape rather than paint dust, but it is an intrusion and will need sorting out.”
🚷 Sign up to take action at https://t.co/7BzUVS02dZ pic.twitter.com/2iaoo6GNdO
— Just Stop Oil (@JustStop_Oil) July 5, 2023
Fans were not happy with the interruption.
JUST STOP OIL – Interrupt Wimbledon, throwing orange bits of plastic backed paper on the court.
They want to destroy all societal traditions and the things that make us who we are.
It isn’t about oil… it’s about fascism & jealousy.
Reject it & condemn it utterly 🔥 pic.twitter.com/UJbqrHcDCC
— Bernie’s Tweets (@BernieSpofforth) July 5, 2023
So gleeful at wrecking people’s hard-earned fun, again. This is why everyone hates you imbeciles. https://t.co/JXxykJTQi4
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) July 5, 2023
I think Just Stop Oil have scored an own goal disrupting Wimbledon.
They had support when they were just inconveniencing working people, now they’ve upset the middle class.#JustStopOil pic.twitter.com/UMTmYIeJ6c— BLAIM GAME (@BLAIMGame) July 5, 2023
The protestors were booed by the crowd as the ground staff made quickly cleaned up the mess left behind. Luckily there was no damage. Deborah Wilde, 68, is a retired school teacher from London.
When asked about it, she said, “I’m just an ordinary grandmother in resistance to this government’s policy of serving us new oil and gas licenses. In normal circumstances this sort of disruption would be entirely unacceptable, but these aren’t normal circumstances.” (via Just Stop Oil).
Simon Milner-Edwards, 66, was the other Just Stop Oil activist. He is a retired musician from Manchester. “I’m not prepared to let our politicians wreck everything and leave the next generation to pick up the pieces.” he said.
“The last thing I want to do is spoil people’s enjoyment of Wimbledon, but right now, on Centre Court, it’s humanity versus oil and gas – and the umpire is getting every call wrong.” added Simon.
What is Just Stop Oil and why are they doing this?
Just Stop Oil is an environmental activist group founded after the Extinction Rebellion and Insulate Britain. Over the past several months, they have been carrying out nationwide protests, calling against the use of oil and for the Government to revoke licenses issued to carry out oil and fossil fuel explorations in the UK.
The group has struck at the Grand National and World Snooker Championships, the Premier League in the past, and as recently as the now concluded 2nd Ashes test cricket match at Lord’s.
Wimbledon was their obvious next target, and an activist was even caught saying that plans like gluing themselves to the Umpire’s chair had been discussed. “An image of someone’s hand glued to something on Centre court would be amazing” they said. “That would be inspiring. A lot of people are up for that.” they had said.
In response, the Wimbledon authorities took adequate measures to prevent this from happening. The inside and outside security of the court was heavily increased, and the spectators were barred from carrying certain items.
However, the disrupters managed to sneak a way around it. This breach is a definite cause for concern. Hopefully, the authorities will take appropriate measures to prevent a repeat offense.