Reform UK unleashes a volley of criticism at Wimbledon for scrapping line judges
eform UK has delivered a volley of criticism at Wimbledon for scrapping line judges at this year's tennis championships.
The party's deputy leader, Richard Tice, suggested the decision by tournament bosses to instead use an electronic system was 'un-British'.
This is the first year in Wimbledon's 148-year history that there will be no line judges.
It meant, as the two-week competition began this morning, the venue's iconic grass courts were much emptier than usual without the traditional team of officials.
It follows a wider move within tennis towards electronic line calling, with many other tournaments around the world having also scrapped human officials.
However, the French Open - one of the four 'Grand Slam' tournaments alongside Wimbledon, the US Open and Australian Open - has so far resisted the change.
Wimbledon's removal of Ralph Lauren-clad line judges in favour of video technology to call shots in or out has been met with dismay by some.
Posting on X/Twitter on Monday morning, Mr Tice wrote: 'We want our country back. We want Wimbledon line judges back. Enough is enough.'