Climate crisis is real. So too is the climate protest at sports events. Last year Jonny Bairstow tackled a protestor — from Just Stop Oil, the British climate activist group — during an Ashes Test at Lord’s. The JSO’s tactics involve throwing orange powder, seen most dramatically when a protestor jumped onto the table at the world snooker championships in Sheffield and brought the game to a halt.
The cause cannot be faulted — we have to spread consciousness about the climate; as the UN Secretary-General says, “Climate breakdown has begun.” But the methods sometimes cause concern. The tactics, rather than the reasons for them, get focused on even if, according to the JSO, these are attempts at forcing the cause “to the forefront of public consciousness and impact the media agenda.” This is the danger in all forms of protest. The message can sometimes get lost in the delivery. But it cannot be ignored.
Athletes are often sympathetic to the cause of climate crisis. Footballer (and commentator) Gary Lineker has said, “I think what is more important is our existence in the future rather than a slight disruption of sporting events.” Formula One’s Lewis Hamilton and tennis star Coco Gauff have said they support the cause. “If that’s what they felt they needed to do to get their voices heard, I can’t really get upset at it,” said Gauff.
But does annoying the fans and those running the sports become counterproductive?
Sporting events — especially those telecast live around the world — attracting protests of one kind or another have a long history. At the Mexico Olympics in 1968, Black American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos made visible gestures supporting Black empowerment and human rights. The Black Salute, an easily recognised gesture, didn’t need footnotes to have it explained as anything other than support for an oppressed people.
It will be surprising if the Paris Olympics is free of protests or at least attempts at protesting. The Derniere Reservation is a French group that wants the government to commit to a comprehensive and energy-efficient renovation of all buildings by 2040. It is a single-point agenda, but the group has made its presence felt at sporting events.
A young woman interrupted the semifinals of the French Open by tying her neck to the net of the tennis court. Stage 10 of the Tour de France was halted when activists sat on a road to prevent riders from passing.
It is not only activists who use sports, athletes do too, to make a point. Muhammad Ali was lost to boxing during his best years because he refused the draft for the Vietnam War, saying famously, “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Vietcong.”
More recently, the San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for the national anthem, because “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people…”
Things change, usually slowly, even if it is sometimes difficult to see the future through the orange mist.
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