Wimbledon CEO Richard Lewis said that the club will not enforce its rules regarding phone use unless such activity is adversely affecting others.GETTY IMAGES
The All England Club "ripped up its rules on mobile phone use during matches at Wimbledon as it faces a battle with the World Cup for spectators' attention," according to Siddique & Mitchell of the London GUARDIAN. Since the start of the Championships, the club has insisted it "does not feel under threat from the football and has no special plans to accommodate it." This has included declining to reschedule the men's singles final and "refusing to show matches on big screens." But with talk in SW19 being "dominated by clashes between the World Cup and events at the home of tennis," the club said on Monday that it "made at least one concession." The rules of entry to the grounds state that mobile phones, tablets and other electronic devices "must be switched off in and around the courts of play." However, Wimbledon CEO Richard Lewis said that the requirement would not be enforced "unless the use of such devices was adversely affecting others." Lewis: "Our attitude is that if people aren't affecting other people's enjoyment of the tennis, if they have it on silent or are listening on an earphone, then that is fine" (GUARDIAN, 7/9).
