Protester sets himself on fire before Roger Federer’s farewell match

A climate activist was prevented from self-immolation in the middle of a London tennis court during the Laver Cup. Warning: Disturbing.

A protester sets his arm alight during the singles game between Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas and Argentina's Diego Schwartzman at the 2022 Laver Cup in London. Picture: AFP

A protester stormed London’s O2 Arena before setting himself on fire in a shocking incident before Roger Federer’s farewell tennis match.

The protester, wearing a T-shirt reading “End UK Private jets”, interrupted a Laver Cup match before sitting by the net and lighting his right arm on fire.

Security ran onto the court and dragged the man away during the changeover at the start of the second set in the match between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Diego Schwartzman.

It came before Federer was due to bring the curtain down on his career in a “super special” match alongside long-time rival Rafael Nadal.

A protester sets his arm alight during the singles game between Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas and Argentina's Diego Schwartzman at the 2022 Laver Cup in London. Picture: AFP

A protester is removed after setting himself on fire at the 2022 Laver Cup in London. Picture: AFP

The crowd, tournament officials and the captain of Team Europe Bjorn Borg, were left in shock when the man poured some kind of accelerant on his arm before setting it on fire.

The man grimaced and batted at the flames as officials rushed to the court, extinguished the fire, and dragged him away.

While he has not been officially identified, a 20-year-old named “Kai” outlined the stunt in a video posted by the group, which makes claims like: “Carbon emissions in 2022 are genocide”.

A protester invades the court, wearing a slogan 'End UK Private Jets'. Picture: AFP

“I’m going to go to the Lava Cup tennis tournament and set my arm on fire on the court,” Kai said.

“People are going to say stuff like, this is horrible, you know, the people in the stadium are going to be disturbed, and anyone who hears about it is going to be really traumatised, especially if they’ve had experiences with things like self harm.”

Carbon emissions in 2022 are genocide. We’re accelerating towards the cliff of runaway collapse - every second takes us closer to human extinction. And the elites are still flying in private jets.
Kai, aged 20, on why they support the demand to End UK Private Jets. pic.twitter.com/r0JjqWwOvM

— End UK Private Jets (@EndUKPrivateJet) September 23, 2022

“There’s no point talking about solar panels or cars or electric vehicles or anything like that, because the government is still flying around in planes.”

Immediately after the incident, a Twitter account belonging to the group identified Kai as one of its members.

“The liveable climate of our planet is collapsing. No one is taking it seriously. Is humanity not worth saving?” the tweet said. “Let’s get into resistance against this death machine.”

BREAKING NEWS
Kai, 20, set their arm on fire at #LaverCup
The liveable climate of our planet is collapsing. No one is taking it seriously.
Is humanity not worth saving?
Let’s get into resistance against this death machine.#EndUKPrivateJetspic.twitter.com/n81bXJtHsw

— End UK Private Jets (@EndUKPrivateJet) September 23, 2022

After a brief delay, the match, the second of the first day, was able to resume. Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Diego Schwartzman in straight sets to put Team Europe 2-0 up at the Laver Cup in London.

“It came out of nowhere,” Tsitsipas said after the match. “I have no idea what this is all about. I never had an incident like this happen on court. I hope he is all right.”

Laver Cup organisers issued a statement on the man who “accessed the court this afternoon and was promptly removed,” the statement said.

“Play was stopped briefly. He has been arrested and the situation is being handled by the police.”

Originally published as Protester sets himself on fire before Roger Federer’s farewell match