This year, the London tournament has many surprises in store. This Wednesday, July 5, Wimbledon was disrupted by an intervention by environmental activists. The protesters, members of Just Stop Oil, a group of British climate activists working to stop oil exploitation, sprinkled the lawn with orange confetti and blue puzzle pieces. A non-violent action, which interrupted the men’s singles match between Grigor Dimitrov and Sho Shimabukuro.
Booed by the crowd, the two intruders were quickly intercepted while one of them had time to sit down on the lawn of the court. Later, a third man was invited on the same court, interrupting the meeting between the British Katie Boulter and the Australian Daria Saville.
Activists disrupted a cricket competition during the Ashes’ second Test at Lord’s last week. Again the pitch had been marked orange, but this time with spilled powder on the wicket. The same process was used for the Premiership rugby final and the World Snooker Championship, held in Sheffield, where activists also stood out with their famous orange powder.
The group took responsibility for their action on Twitter, adding the video of their gesture to their message. A variant of art soup attacks, reserved for museums.
�� 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