A spectator was ejected from the World Snooker Championship final for protesting about British state television broadcaster, the BBC.
The disruption came in Sunday’s first session of the final between England’s Shaun Murphy and China’s Wu Yize at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
Play was briefly halted after a female spectator appeared to shout “who f—ing pays their TV licence anyway” before jumping over the barrier separating the seating from the arena. Referee Rob Spencer blocked her from progressing any further and security escorted her out.
The heckle targeted the funding mechanism for the BBC, which requires a paid licence to watch or record live television on any of its channels or services in the United Kingdom.
The incident comes a day after a man shouted “never forget the Epstein files” in the deciding round of Wu’s semi-final on Saturday.
The spectator shouted the words — a reference to the records released by the United States Department of Justice relating to the federal investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — multiple times while the announcer called for security.
The interruptions were the most high-profile incidents of this year’s tournament, but there have been regular interruptions to play due to mobile phones going off. Spectators are warned that they could be ejected for failing to switch their phones off.
The World Snooker finals have been the target of previous protests. In 2024, two Just Stop Oil protesters were convicted of causing and attempting to cause criminal damage after throwing orange powder on the table to disrupt the event in 2023.
The concluding round of this year’s final will take place on Monday, with 22-year-old Wu leading 10-7 after two sessions.
