Wimbledon claims anti-communist protesters were pushed down stairs on Ran TV

The All-England club, which hosts the prestigious Wimbledon tennis tournament, said an anti-communist protester who was expelled from the men’s singles final on Sunday “had come down the stairs and caused disturbance” at the event. pushed away by security guards. down the stairs..

“Where’s Peng Shuai?” protester Australian anti-communist activist Drew Pavlow asked. He unfurled a homemade banner that read. Messages shouted from the Chinese Communist Party to prove its safety, and the global tennis industry compelled China to do so.

Peng is a former Wimbledon champion who disappeared in China after she posted a post on social media in November accusing one of the country’s most powerful men, Zhang Gaoli, of the rape, the top Olympic official. Since then, Peng has only been seen in staged photos released by Chinese state media and has been offered an interview in a sports magazine accompanied by Chinese government agents. Equip In February, she said she had “never disappeared” or accused anyone of rape. Since then, Peng has not reappeared and his allegations have remained unsolved.

Wimbledon is known as the toughest tennis tournament in terms of publicity and player behavior as it requires a white dress code for players on the court and keeps the noise level to a minimum. Before Pavel’s appearance, Wimbledon security prevented another group of Peng Shuai protesters from hanging their banners, even though Wimbledon was the most successful tournament of Peng’s career. The move sparked outrage from some in the tennis community.

Which One Doesn’t Talk?!? WHAT? https://t.co/RRsTVhHMWd

– Martina Navratilova (@Martina) July 4, 2022

On Sunday, Pavlou began shouting in the middle of the men’s final between players Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios, who openly expressed his support for Peng after his loss.

Pavlow said in an interview, “I didn’t want to interrupt the match itself, so I waited for a timeout in the game and then ‘Where is Peng Shuai? After the Associated Press was deported.’ I said, ‘Where is Peng Shuai? This Chinese tennis star is being persecuted by the Chinese government. Why doesn’t Wimbledon say anything? ”

Pavlou accused Wimbledon security personnel of “falling” right after his protest. [his] He claimed he had “headed against the wall” and “fell down the stairs”.

The All England Club released a brief statement saying that Pavlou “run” down the stairs when he was pushed through security. He didn’t openly say whether it was in addition to being pushed down the stairs or if it was the same incident that Pavel was talking about.

“A spectator was expelled from Center Court after disrupting the game by shouting, running down the stairs and disturbing other spectators. The security guards took the man away from the area,” the statement said.

Pavlov cries out so as not to refuse.

“I tried to be as strong as possible. I’m shouting because I want people to hear,” he said.

In America, ESPN marked the end of Pavel’s stay at the stadium after Djokovic and Kyrgios stopped playing to look in the stands in response to the noise. On-air, a man wearing a security uniform showed a man wearing a light blue shirt matching Pavel’s clothes pushing him down the stadium stairs.

Pavlou later accused Wimbledon officials of being more rude than someone who actually annoyed the players, an unidentified woman arguing with the referee on television.

Kyrgios accused the woman of having “700 drinks” and demanded her dismissal for constantly trying to talk to her in the middle of a conversation.

“He’s out of his mind”

“I know, but which one?

“Looks like he had 700 drinks bro!”#kyrgios #WimbledonFinal pic.twitter.com/b9R1sLA4O0

– Andrew Gourdie (@AndrewGourdie) 10 July 2022

“Wimbledon security did nothing because the drunk woman yelled and yelled at Nick Kyrgios multiple times while she was shooting the scores. But he dragged me down the stairs and threw my face against the wall for saying “Where’s Peng Shuai” to Pavel on Twitter. “The difference is they don’t want to lose the Chinese sponsors.”

Pavel later apologized for disturbing the space.

Journalists asked Kyrgios about both events after the fight and whether it had affected his concentration and possibly cost the fight. With her Wimbledon performance her first performance in the tennis Grand Slam final, the player confirmed that the unknown woman was a major annoyance, but Pavel was not impressed in any way.

“It didn’t bother me at all,” said Kyrgios, adding that the reporter was trying to “pull” him into a political discussion.

“Nice try,” he joked.

Djokovic, who won his seventh Wimbledon title on Sunday, did not speak publicly about the incident, but spoke more loudly in condemning the Chinese government over Peng Shuai’s loss when it first appeared on the news. Djokovic said she supports the “very brave and very brave” decision taken by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) to cut ties with China to protest the treatment of Peng.

“I fully support WTA’s position because we don’t have enough information about Peng Shuai and how he feels,” Djokovic said in December.

When asked in January, Kyrgios was surprised that Peng was still missing and was reluctant to comment privately, but nevertheless said, “We need to know more about this, we can’t forget that, we have to use our platforms like athletes.”

Pavlow has an extensive history of protesting against the Chinese Communist Party in Australia since his time at the University of Brisbane in Queensland, where he joined students in support of the 2019 Hong Kong protests to condemn the violent attacks of pro-regime Chinese students on campus. At the time, Paul said he had received anonymous messages threatening “to kill his family” for supporting democracy in Hong Kong.

Recently, in May, Paul ran a campaign in the Senate and formed an alliance of candidates, many of whom came from population groups repressed by Chinese Communist policies, including Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Hong Kongers, opposing the influence of the Chinese Communists. Pavlow’s campaign consisted mainly of protests against the Chinese government. In early May, police arrested Paul for standing in public in Sydney with the “Fuck Xi Jinping” sign, which they called a violation of Paul’s freedom of speech.

A few weeks later, Pavla was again arrested and fined by the police for holding a blank sign in a public place outside the Chinese consulate in Brisbane.

A $1,000 fine for placing a blank sign an inch above the pavement outside the Chinese consulate. I will not pay this ridiculous and insane fine, I will appeal to the court pic.twitter.com/qDLDKyqF8l

– Drew Pavlou (@DrewPavlou) 17 May 2022