Wimbledon Players Urged To Be Responsible With Food Vouchers After Coach Spotted With 27 Yoghurts
The AELTC has warned Wimbledon tennis players to be more 'judicious' with their daily food allowance.
During their time competing at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, players are given a daily allowance of £90 to spend on food. Half the amount is given to tennis coaches.
However, one coach has reportedly been caught making the absolute most of his allowance by purchasing 27 probiotic yoghurt drinks in just one day to make sure they maxed it out.
The AELTC has since reportedly emailed all of this year's players to address the issue.
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Accreditation tags are given to players and coaches, which they can then use at the checkout to pay for food items.
The accreditation tags can be used at two coffee shops, two sandwich bars and two restaurants - all local to Wimbledon.
The budget has already been set firmly at £90 per day, meaning the AELTC's email is not an attempt to cut costs.
Instead, it has reportedly urged players to not buy excessively, in a bid to ensure there are no shortages of food.
In 2017, Gary Parson, the executive chef of the Players' lounge - which serves food such as pasta and salad to players and their coaches - noted how important it is that players can come to the restaurants and choose the food that is right for them.
He said: "The players will come up and their coaches will guide them what they need to build up on.
"That’s why we have basic core salads so then the coaches might say ‘You need plenty of spinach, cucumber, radishes’, so they’re building their own dishes."
Great experience & food in the Player/VIP lounge from Wimbledon caterers surrounded by all the creative we produced pic.twitter.com/rW4VnYRYSB
— somethingcreativ (@wearecreativ) November 27, 2014
Issues with food allowances also cropped up at the Australian Open.
Players were offered unlimited food, drink and refreshments during the tournament.
However, the scheme was shut down after it was exploited.
“The Australian Open experimented with offering unlimited food to players but this was abandoned after the scheme was exploited.”
— David (@oregonlt3) July 5, 2022
Shocked I tell you. #socialism
And while players and coaches have been getting free food each day of the tennis tournament, some spectators have been left gobsmacked by the cost of food and drink at Wimbledon.
In particular, the reported £11 price tag for a tray of chicken and chips with a side of coleslaw has sent shockwaves around Twitter.
One user called the meal 'seriously overpriced' and another, 'the saddest chicken [they've] seen in a while'.
In typical British fashion, another tennis fan used the outrage over the pricey chicken to raise awareness of the whopping cost of a pint at the courts instead, saying they had paid more than £7.
However, as one user noted, the spectator did indeed 'pay [for] it', despite it setting him back so heavily, unlike the players and coaches in the tournament.
Poppy Bilderbeck