Wimbledon boss jokes military would love to 'sort out' influencers

Royal Marine Commandos providing security at Wimbledon would like "nothing more than to sort out" disruptive social media influencers at the prestigious tournament, its chief executive jokes. Wimbledon's boss said the SW19 crowd is 'self-policing' when it comes to behaviour Royal Marine commandos providing security at Wimbledon would like "nothing more than to sort out" disruptive social media influencers at the prestigious tournament, its chief executive has joked. US Open organisers accredited 100 influencers and content creators for this year's tournament. But when a match involving two-time champion Naomi Osaka was disrupted by a group of influencers conducting a photo shoot, it prompted a debate about tennis etiquette. Richard Atkinson, interim chief executive at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, said Wimbledon did not offer accreditation to influencers and sources have indicated to BBC Sport that is unlikely to change in the near future.

While Atkinson acknowledged that influencers were a "crucial part of the marketing mix" and to ban them from attending the tournament entirely would be "nonsense", he said any that were brought in by brands would be "tightly chaperoned". He also backed the traditional "self-policing" ethos at SW19, whereby fans respect the action. After the disruption at the US Open, world number four Coco Gauff said it was important to welcome a "new demographic" to the sport,