Just Stop Oil protester Edred Whittingham was pulled from the snooker table at the Crucible following his protest at the World Cup on Monday. Photo: PA/Mike Egerton
The connection between snooker and the Just Stop Oil campaign is confusing, unless the protesters are trying to object to the Brylcreem crew that once ran the sport on a conscience basis. Bill Verbeniuk was certainly well-oiled in his day, although the heyday of the Canadian Hellraiser at the Crucible was well before the birth of Edred Whittingham, the 25-year-old who shrouded this venerable old theater in a plume of orange dust. p>
For better or worse, he will go down in history as one of the sport's enduring icons: a dab of tangerine on a palette of pristine green, some ill-conceived homage to Rothko. From above, it looked like snooker had suddenly decided to play a clay season. To think, Mark Selby's joke that players would go to the Wuhan tournament this fall «in hazmat suits» once seemed like the weirdest moment of this World Cup. It's okay to have Rob Walker come out of his TV studio to vacuum up a ruined Sheffield fabric wearing a mask.
As a source of global emissions, the snooker showpiece is hardly the worst offender. True, Cazoo's title sponsor, as a used car dealer, may not have the greenest status, but Whittingham and his colleagues could better put their wrath on Formula 1, a sport that has just reaffirmed its commitment to Net Zero by hiring hundreds paddock staff. from the UK to Melbourne and back in one race.
Again, it would be best not to give the Just Stop Oil protesters too many ideas. They caused havoc at last summer's British Grand Prix by invading Silverstone on the first lap, risking death to themselves and the drivers. Their antics were strongly condemned, though not by Lewis Hamilton, who said, “Rise up the protesters. I love that people are fighting for the planet and we need more like them.» He later clarified that he did not approve of the protest method.
What worries all of British sport is that these protests are becoming a pattern. Nobody knows exactly where Just Stop Oil will appear next: will it outshine the Sunday London Marathon? Will it be a crash at Wimbledon or the Royal Club, whose annual tournament is sponsored by Cinch, another used car company?
Snooker's confusing purpose is a sign that it revels in unpredictability. While his colleagues at Animal Rising have been all too clear in telegraphing their intentions to destroy the Grand National, Just Stop Oil operates in often perverse ways, delivering its «No New Oil» message last year to protesters glued to the frame of Van Gogh's Peach Tree in Bloom.
The company believes that the majority of marathon participants support its views
But if there is one constant thread in his methods of work, it is that he seeks to cause the greatest shock to the widest possible audience. Denying people the enjoyment of their favorite painting in the heart of the Courtauld Gallery, he hoped that this would cause an uproar. Likewise, by interrupting the quiet, sleepy rhythms of snooker, they knew it would elicit an internal reaction, not least because hundreds of thousands of people were watching terrestrial TV at home.
His message is blunt. «We will continue to disrupt sports and cultural events until institutions join us in civil resistance,» Just Stop Oil said.
If the London Marathon is next, it's because he estimates that the majority of runners support his views. This may be too optimistic. Those who have been training for months to run 26 miles are unlikely to understand that their path to «suburban Everest» is blocked by student agitators with bags of bright dust.
Promoting these means is absolutely unacceptable. minority position. «Criminal damage!» shouted one of the snooker spectators to Whittingham. «You fucking idiots,» yelled another. It didn't sound like much public support for his crusade. Thus, the organizers of this summer's sports gems and their security forces should not confuse the right to protest with giving carte blanche to saboteurs.
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