Wednesday, December 1st, 2021
WTA reacts to the case of Peng Shuai
Tennis organization suspends China tournaments
At the beginning of November, tennis player Peng Shuai reported that she had been sexually abused by the Chinese vice premier. After that, there is no trace of her for two weeks. The WTA players’ organization is now canceling all tournaments in China, saying that athletes cannot be asked to compete there with a clear conscience.
Due to the Peng Shuai case, the WTA is suspending all tennis tournaments in China and Hong Kong with immediate effect. This was announced by Steve Simon, chairman of the players’ organization. “I cannot in good conscience ask our athletes to compete if Peng Shuai is not allowed to speak freely and has apparently been pressured to withdraw their allegations of sexual assault,” said Simon. The WTA boss was also concerned about the safety of players and coaches. “I am very sorry that it has come to this,” he said.
Peng Shuai, the former world number one in doubles, reported in early November in the Twitter-like medium Weibo that he had been sexually abused by former Chinese Vice Prime Minister Zhang Gaoli. The entry was deleted, as were numerous Internet entries about Peng, of which there was no trace for more than two weeks.
Since then, athletes, politicians and human rights activists have expressed concern for the tennis player’s well-being. China’s leaders would have left the WTA with no other choice. He continues to hope that the requests will be heard and that the Chinese authorities will take steps to legitimately address this issue, Simon said.
“Given the current situation, I am also very concerned about the risks that all of our players could be exposed to if we were to hold events in China in 2022,” the WTA said. China is a major sponsor of the Ladies Tour with a number of events. The case is becoming even more explosive due to the upcoming Winter Games in Beijing in February and the already ongoing criticism of the host country.