The defending champion said he quit as a “matter of principle” after being told to change his jeans.
Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20241229085023/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c98lkrdkz70o
SpinScore: https://spinscore.io/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Farticles%2Fc98lkrdkz70o
For such a minor infraction? Absolutely. He even said he’d change for the next day.
If they hadn’t reacted like they did no one would have ever heard about this.
Magnus knows that’s not how the rules work. And they didn’t suddenly whack him with a disqualification, he withdrew himself after being told to change. In his own words “fine, then I’m out. Like, fuck you”
Sometimes a simple mistake leads to an act of disobedience that shines a light on the foolishness of the rule in question. This is one of those times. A dress code like this is also a way of gatekeeping players that may not have the means to meet the dress code.
I’m not suggesting they need to scrap the level of decorum entirely, but allowing for modern interpretations of business attire is reasonable.
Also, he offered to correct the faux pas the next day of the tournament, and they refused. The article mentioned they also forced someone to leave to change their shoes - which was also ridiculous. Magnus just has enough clout to stand up to this. I wouldn’t be surprised if they amended the rule.