The first ladies semi-final of the US Open between Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova, Thursday in New York, was interrupted for 50 minutes by environmental activists. An action claimed by the Extinction Rebellion movement in a press release.
Environmental activists interrupted the first US Open women’s semi-final between Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova for 50 minutes on Thursday in New York. The Extinction Rebellion movement claimed responsibility for the action in a statement, explaining that “the climate and ecological crises threaten everything on our planet, including sport.”
“We are not protesting against the tournament itself; we are not protesting against tennis (…) We are here because we must interrupt this public event in a gesture of last resort to draw public attention to the “climate emergency,” says activist Shayok Mukhopadhyay in the press release.
“End fossil fuels” chanted
As the players were about to begin the second game of the second round, four people, according to the organization of the tournament, stood up in the upper part of the stands of the immense Arthur-Ashe court and chanted “end fossil fuels” ( stop fossil fuels, editor’s note).
The referee preferred to interrupt the game and while the public repeatedly shouted “get them out” towards the activists, Gauff and Muchova were authorized to leave the court and return to the locker room while the situation was resolved. . At the time of the interruption, Gauff led 6-4, 1-0.
Upon intervention by the police, three of the activists left peacefully, but the fourth stuck his bare feet to the ground. The police and the medical service took several minutes to unstick him before taking him out, his hands handcuffed behind his back.