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Post by Admin on Sept 18, 2014 20:13:57 GMT
It's decision day for Scotland and as voters head to the polls, one of the world's most famous Scots, Andy Murray, has declared his support for team Yes. The tennis player had previously remained noticeably silent on the issue, but posted a message on Twitter just hours ahead of the polls opening, to state his position. The furore surrounding the Scottish referendum has reached fever pitch in recent days, with accusations of bullying and intimidation from both sides now dominating the debate. Although the Scot, who lives in Surrey, received overwhelming support from the Twitteratti, not everyone was thrilled with the sportsman's decision. His declaration in the early hours of this morning sent social media networks ablaze. By 9am his Twitter message had been re-tweeted more than 10,000 times. Murray, 27, who hails from Dunblane, Perthshire, joined his brother Jamie who also declared his support for a Yes vote. Wimbledon champion Andy has been quizzed on the Scottish issue previously but dodged the question, although in an interview in June he did criticise Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond for waving the country's flag at the tournament last year. Murray will not have a vote as he is not currently resident in Scotland, but he has generally been seen as a firm Scottish nationalist - drumming up controversy in 2006 when he said he would support "anyone but England" in the World Cup. Last month he told the Guardian that he did not think it looked likely the result would be a Yes, but he added that his preference would be to represent Scotland if the country became independent. "If Scotland became independent, then I imagine I would be playing for Scotland," he told the newspaper. "I haven't thought that much about that yet because I don't think it's looking too likely that it's going to happen. But if it did happen, then it would be pretty much the first time in my life that I would have ever (had the chance to play for Scotland)." He added that he did not like making his views on politics known as previous comments had "caused me a headache ... and a lot of abuse".
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Post by Admin on Sept 19, 2014 21:25:16 GMT
Andy Murray's offerings on social media are rarely bland, often thought-provoking, and quite likely to increase the blood pressure of those employed to guide his career. The tweet he sent in support of Scottish independence at one o'clock on the morning of the referendum was not written under the influence of alcohol. It represented the view formed by a man who had followed the arguments very closely, and even watched one of the leaders' debates while at the US Open in New York. Murray knew what he was doing when he hit the 'tweet' box. And, although I suspect he underestimated the strength of feeling his intervention would stir, it was the action of a man who is much more comfortable with his public persona since becoming a Grand Slam champion. And even if he does enjoy the ripples caused by his occasional swipe at 'the establishment', it is very refreshing to hear one of the world's leading athletes tell you what he really thinks. When Marin Cilic and Viktor Troicki fell foul of the doping regulations last year, to the background of a fair amount of sympathy from other leading players, Murray was the only one to label them "unprofessional". Nearly 20,000 people retweeted Murray's pro-independence message. His decision to go public took those close to him by surprise, as the 27-year-old had made clear in recent months that there was little to be gained from coming out publicly in favour of either side. His support in Scotland may well be enhanced, but there's no doubt that will come at the expense of his popularity among some living south of the border. Murray still receives a dispiritingly high amount of ill-educated abuse eight years on from his jokey aside that he would be supporting ''anyone but England" at the 2006 World Cup, and Police Scotland has already been moved to comment about "vile, disgusting and distasteful comments" posted within hours of Murray's tweet. Middle England took a long time to warm to Murray, but his achievement in winning the Olympics, US Open and Wimbledon within the space of 12 months gradually won them over, as he became the first athlete to win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award with more than 50% of the public's vote.
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