Dominic Cummings may be weathering the storm that engulfed him for apparently flouting the government’s coronavirus lockdown guidance but that has not stopped Boris Johnson’s top adviser being ridiculed on the other side of the world.
As Australia’s NRL season restarted this week, the Fan in the Stand initiative allowed the public to pay $22 for a cardboard cutout of themselves to be placed in a seat to “watch” their team in action.
It seems one Sydney Roosters fan with a sense of humour had other ideas. A cardboard cutout of Cummings appeared at Bankwest Stadium for the Roosters’ match against South Sydney Rabbitohs and did not go unnoticed by TV viewers.
“He’s travelled to Sydney now. Cummings doesn’t give a shit!” posted Sam Rowlett, along with a photo of the match coverage – a post which quickly gained several thousand likes on Twitter.
Michael Doyle tweeted in response: “This is hilarious! For $20 or so you can put an image of yourself or another in the stands of a NRL game. Someone did it to Dominic Cummings today. LoL!”
This is hilarious! For $20 or so you can put an image of yourself or another in the stands of a NRL game. Someone did it to Dominic Cummings today. LoL! https://t.co/img7u8so6h
— Michael Doyle (@CJPDoyle) May 29, 2020
Amid rising fury across the UK, Cummings was forced to give a press conference on Monday in which he defended his decision to travel from London to Durham – and to nearby Barnard Castle to “test his eyesight” – during the strict lockdown which is aimed at controlling the spread of Covid-19. Durham police concluded he may have broken lockdown rules but chose to take no action.
This is not the first time an image of Cummings has appeared at a closed-doors sports fixture recently. Last week a Twitter user called David posted a photo of the adviser enjoying a match in Germany as the Bundesliga restarted. Although in this case Cummings was photoshopped in:
With numerous sports planning a return to action either behind closed doors or with small, physically distanced crowds, this is surely not the last time the increasingly unpopular Cummings will make an appearance as the world’s exit from lockdown continues.
