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Just Stop Oil protesters interrupt play at Wimbledon twice
Just Stop Oil protesters interrupted play twice at Wimbledon by throwing orange-coloured confetti and jigsaw pieces on to court 18.
The contest between Grigor Dimitrov and Sho Shimabukuro was targeted by two protesters. A third protester then targeted Katie Boulter’s match against Daria Saville. Two men and a woman were arrested.
Environmental protest group Just Stop Oil has targeted various sporting events, including an Ashes Test. Followers of the group – which calls for the government to halt all new oil, gas and coal projects – also disrupted the rugby union Premiership final and the World Snooker Championship.
In a statement after the first episode, the All England Club (AELTC) said: “Following an incident on court 18, two individuals have been arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass and criminal damage and these individuals have now been removed from the grounds.”
A man and woman had run on to the court, throwing confetti and jigsaw pieces from a Wimbledon ‘Centre Court View’ jigsaw puzzle box on to the grass. The man sat down on court 18 before he was removed.
A couple of hours later another man ran on to the same court, where British number one Boulter had just resumed her rain-interrupted first-round match against Australian Saville.
The crowd booed the protesters with some heard shouting “get off”.
Following the breaks in play, a Wimbledon shop worker told BBC Sport they had stopped selling jigsaws for now.
Just Stop Oil said in a statement its supporters had thrown “environmentally friendly orange confetti glitter and jigsaw pieces” and that “play was briefly delayed whilst marshals picked up the pieces”.
(BBC)