Police have warned of a drone exclusion zone over Cheltenham Festival this week after a Palestinian flag was flown over Allianz Stadium during England’s Six Nations victory over Italy.
The rugby match stunt by Palestine Action protested the RFU’s Twickenham sponsorship deal with Allianz, which also insures one of Israel’s largest weapon manufacturers.
Allianz has no significant connections with Cheltenham, but police have nevertheless clarified any drone operator will face prosecution if they fly over the Gloucestershire site.
“There is an exclusion zone in place for all four days of the event between the hours of 10.15am and 8pm,” a Gloucestershire Police statement sent to Telegraph Sport said.
“There will be a large number of helicopters operating from the temporary heliport at the racecourse and therefore the Secretary of State for Transport has decided that it is necessary to introduce Restriction of Flying Regulations under Article 239 of the Air Navigation Order 2016. Flying a drone without the necessary authorisation could result in equipment seizure and a potential prosecution.”
BREAKING: Palestine Action use a drone to fly the Palestine flag over the Allianz Stadium, during the England v Italy rugby match.
Allianz provide insurance for Israel's biggest weapons firm, allowing Elbit to build weapons in Britain which are tested on Palestinians. pic.twitter.com/si8bOI0Ib4
— Palestine Action (@Pal_action) March 9, 2025
ITV Racing has permission as the rights-holder to fly a drone as part of its aerial coverage of the action. “Police drones will also be in operation during the festival to assist policing operations,” the force added.
Cheltenham begins on Tuesday, just 48 hours after the Palestinian flag was flown in the skies above Twickenham, where stadium rights were bought up by Allianz last September. The game still took place during the stunt.
The Jockey Club, which runs the festival, never comments on security arrangements, but other provisions in place are known to include extra efforts to encourage respectful behaviour among heavy-drinking racegoers. Telegraph Sport spotted several signs on the racecourse on Monday encouraging good behaviour.
Cheltenham chief executive Guy Lavender admits the track is anticipating a dip in attendances at the Festival, but has vowed to put customer experience at the forefront as the track seeks to encourage racegoers back to the meeting.
Extra measures include the largest deployment of hard ‘trackway’ ever in Europe on the ground’s grass car parks after muddy mayhem at the course last year, with vehicles getting stuck.
Lavender expects “more than 200,000” racegoers over the four-day fixture, down on last year’s Festival total crowd, which was just short of 230,000.
In an open letter, he said: “I think that it’s important to mention up front that we are expecting fewer racegoers to be joining us in person this week than in recent years. The decline is not catastrophic but nor are we seeing growing attendances. I am sure that this will result in some commentary, both in the media and on social media platforms.”
