Wimbledon staff left devastated after decision to break 147-year tradition and put 300 jobs at risk

Posted by Admin October 10, 2024 Tennis

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Wimbledon staff have been left devastated after the All England Club announced plans to replace line judges with Artificial Intelligence from next year.

It was revealed on Wednesday that the decision has been made, putting 300 jobs at risk.

Line judges have been prominent figures at Wimbledon ever since the tournament first started 147 years ago.

Yet there are now 300 members of staff waiting to learn about their future after the decision, which comes four years after a Hawk-Eye Live system was first used at the 2020 US Open.

Wimbledon staff have been left devastated after the All England Club announced plans to replace line judges with Artificial Intelligence from next year

Chair umpire Richard Ings, speaking to the Telegraph, has dubbed it a ‘sad but inevitable day’.

And Ings also said that line judges have had their ‘love and passion ripped away’ following the controversial call.

The former head of officiating at the ATP Tour said: “Nothing will hold back the tide of AI.

“And these technologies create gains for sure, but we also lose something on the human side. Will your job be safe from AI?

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“Also, it’s important to remember that the players will still swear and break rackets and question calls.

“Meanwhile, not-ups and double-hits and touches and crowd noises et cetera will still require humans in a match to make judgment calls that may be right or may be wrong.

“It’s just a sad day where the question is ‘are we gaining more than we are losing?'”

He also said: “More than 300 good people and excellent officials – the best of the best working at the pinnacle of the sport – today had their love and passion ripped away.”

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John Parry, who previously umpired eight Wimbledon finals during his career, has also lamented the decision.

“It’s just a feeling of sadness because there are quite a nucleus of line judges at the top level who are now out of a job,” he said.

“I suppose the players have been pushing for it, but there were a few who always relished the human element, and I believe [Roger] Federer was one of them, because he thought that line-judges were part of the flavour of the game.

“The way things are now, the umpire has very little to do apart from reading the score out.”

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There are also concerns that lesser tennis tournaments could face a recruitment issue.

Those hoping to become a line judge now won’t have the possibility of working at a Grand Slam to work towards.

The Lawn Tennis Association have said they are working with the Association of British Tennis Officials to ‘develop a new joint strategy that will ensure officials can be retained within the sport’.

Yet former Wimbledon referee Andrew Jarrett is worried about what the future holds.

Wimbledon line judges are set to become a thing of the past following the decision to use AI instead

He added: “I saw the announcement and it’s inevitable, I think. It’s progress, like it or not.

“But there’s potentially more of a problem further down the food chain.

“Small pro events that can’t afford ELC (electronic line-calling) may struggle to source officials who no longer have the incentive of being able to prove their worth for selection to Wimbledon.”