The Wimbledon Championships or Wimbledon is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is considered to be the most prestigious. It is one of the four grand slam tennis tournaments held around the world each year. The tournament has been held in the All England Club in London since 1887 and matches are still played in its original surface of grass which is how it got its original name of lawn tennis, and it has a strict white only dress code for players. The tournament attracts a large number of spectators from around the world as well as millions of viewers on television.
The tournament is scheduled to be played over two weeks starting in late June and ending in late July. Wimbledon consists of five major, junior and invitational matches and the tournament ends with ladies and gentlemen’s singles finals played in the centre court. This court consists of a royal box where members of the royal family and other dignitaries watch the match from.
The 2014 tournament is scheduled to be played from the 23rd of June to the 6th of July. Tickets for the games are sold using a ballot system; however fans can also buy tickets on the day of the match by queuing outside, although there is no guarantee of purchasing a ticket; as only 500 tickets will be sold for those in the queue, for each court.
The venue for the tournament is the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, a suburban district of southwest London and is located within greater London. The town consists of two sections with a modern part as well as an ancient medieval part. Muslims visiting London for the Wimbledon tennis tournament will have no difficulties in finding Muslim-friendly facilities as London is home to quite a large percentage of Muslims; and therefore locating halal food and prayer facilities will be quite easy.
The Muslim community living in London is of a diverse nature and therefore the restaurants also serve a wide array of cuisines. Most of these restaurants are Muslim owned while others are usually halal certified. There are also several halal delivery outlets where Muslims tourists can order from. Visitors must be warned that some restaurants claim to be halal but also serve alcohol or allow guests to bring their own.
Tourists visiting the city for Wimbledon will have many options of food to choose from; Lebanese, Indian, Moroccan, Persian and Italian are just a few available ones. Flame, Persian Hut, Zain Cafe and Restaurant, Fresh Fish Bar, Cafe Narlso, Frangos Mundo, Aaya Express and Aya are some of the restaurants Muslim guests could dine at. However, those too tired to go out also have the option of ordering in.
There are many halal delivery outlets in Wimbledon, namely; Hungry House, Gourmet 2, Rowan Tandoori, Al Amin, Star Kebab and Capri Pizza are just a few of these delivery outlets. Muslim visitors looking for prayer facilities and mosques in Wimbledon can visit the Wimbledon Mosque if needed.
London is home to a large number of mosques, the most well known being the London Central Mosque. As for transport within the city, London has a very good public transport system. The best way to get to Wimbledon would be to take the tube. London is one of the most popular destinations among Muslim travelers, and tourist planning to visit the country for the Wimbledon Championships will have no problem finding these specific religion-based facilities. So what’s stopping you, if you haven’t already booked your ticket, hurry up go book it right away before it’s too late!
