Officials dig heels in over World Cup blackout
Refusal to show England match hardly causes a stir among tennis fans, writes Daniel Schofield
The plot for the 2004 film The Village revolves what appears to be a 19th-century Pennsylvanian village isolated from the rest of the world. The inhabitants live in constant fear of creatures living beyond their walls, referred to as “Those We Don’t Speak Of ”.
Given that it was directed by M. Night Shyamalan, there is an inevitable twist which – spoiler alert – is that the village was deliberately built in a modern-day wildlife preserve with the elders determined to block themselves off from the outside world. Which brings us to to the All England Club. In this particular village, football and footballers are “Those We Don’t Speak Of ” with the decision taken by Wimbledon chief executive Richard Lewis to prohibit the showing of England’s last-16 match against Colombia last night – or any other World Cup match – on any public screen within their premises. So strict is their policy that the blinds were drawn down at the media centre to prevent anyone peering in; if only petty officialdom were a sport in which England could compete every year.
“We only ever show tennis,” Lewis said. “That’s always been our policy on the grounds. We will continue to do that. We are a tennis event.” As such, this peculiar enclave of south-west London remains stubbornly immune to the outbreaks of World Cup fever that have gripped many other parts of the country.
Certainly, Lewis’ decision did not seem to brook much dissent in the unscientific straw poll conducted by The Daily Telegraph. The crossover in the Venn diagram between Wimbledon ticketholders and football fans seems to be the size of a postage stamp. “Watch the football?” spluttered one elderly gentleman as if he had been accused of engaging in a particularly sordid sexual practice.