Wimbledon 2018: England's World Cup clash with Colombia won't be shown at All England Club

The Wimbledon Championships has a long-standing policy of not showing football within its grounds

Samuel Lovett
Tuesday 03 July 2018 11:31 BST
Comments
Wimbledon day one: Roger Federer and Serena Williams victorious

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The All England Lawn Tennis Club will not be showing coverage of England’s last-16 World Cup showdown with Colombia on Tuesday night, with Wimbledon organisers keen to keep the event a strictly tennis affair.

The Championships has a long-standing policy of not showing football within its grounds, and intends to enforce this once again tonight – despite the significance of England’s clash.

As such, England fans will be unable to watch the match, or any other knockout games during the World Cup, on Henman Hill or other screens inside the All England Club.

“In previous years we have never shown the football, whether it is the European Championships or the World Cup, and there will be no change to that,” Richard Lewis, the chief executive of the All England Club, said ahead of the tournament.

“We think people recognise they are at a tennis event. It has always been an accepted policy.

“It has worked very well for us and never proved controversial. We love seeing England do well and would love Gareth Southgate and his side to do well at this World Cup.”

Wimbledon organisers have also confirmed that the men’s final, which is expected to start around 2.15pm on Sunday 15 July, would not be moved forward in order to avoid a clash with the World Cup final, which kicks off at 4pm on the same day.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in