Just Stop Oil protestors disrupt proceedings at Wimbledon, throw confetti onto court before being removed by security

The 2023 Wimbledon Championships witnessed its first act of disruption by the Just Oil Protestors on Wednesday, halting proceedings on Court 18.

Twenty-first seed Grigor Dimitrov locked horns with Sho Shimabukuro in the first round on June 5, a match that was delayed due to rain on Tuesday. With the Bulgarian leading 6-1, 1-0, two spectators unexpectedly stormed the court.

They threw orange confetti on the court, reportedly smuggling it inside a jigsaw puzzle purchased on site at Wimbledon.

Although late, security arrived to arrest the disrupters, one of whom had sat down in the middle of the court and was cheered on by the crowd in attendance. The protestors were then escorted out of the ground.

Play was suspended for a while, as the confetti had to be cleaned up from the court.

Just Stop Oil soon took to Twitter to proudly share their act of intrusion, tweeting:

“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."

Interestingly, the UK-based enviromental activist group had announced beforehand that they had plans to disrupt proceedings at Wimbledon this fortnight They had also done the same during the ongoing Ashes series between Australia and England last week.

Tournament organizers had put security measures in place to stop them and have also urged players not to deal with them directly if they get on the court.

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"I agree with the cause, just not always how they go about expressing it" - Andy Murray on Just Stop Oil protests at Wimbledon

Day Three: The Championships - Wimbledon 2023

Two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray addressed the likelihood of disruptions by Just Stop Oil protestors at the tournament. He said that while he agrees their cause, he does not like the way they're going about it.

The Brit also wondered whether the idea of running towards players with racquets in their hands is a good idea, opining that it might be dangerous for the protestors, too.

"I think there is probably a good chance of something happening. I agree with the cause – just not always how they go about expressing it. Rather than running on the court, maybe they could do it a different way,” Andy Murray said.

He continued:

“I was talking about it with my family the other day. I don’t know, if somebody ran onto the court and came towards you, what your reaction would be to that because you don’t know who it is or what they are doing or why they are doing it."