WTA suspends tennis tournaments in China in response to Peng Shuai case

The WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) announced this Wednesday (1) that all tournaments of the entity in China are suspended.

The decision was made official by the organization’s president, Steve Simon, fulfilling what had been announced in a threatening tone last month.

Tension between the WTA and the country began after Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai accused former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of forcing her to have sex.

On the 19th, Simon said he was willing to interrupt business with China and “deal with the complications that come with it” if there was no progress in the investigations.

In Wednesday’s statement, the official says he does not see “how I can ask our athletes to compete there, when Peng Shuai is not allowed to communicate freely and has apparently been pressured to contradict her allegation of sexual assault.”

“Given the current situation, I’m also very concerned about the risks all our players and teams could face if we held events in China in 2022,” he continued.

The decision marks a milestone in the relationship between sports organizations and the country that will host the Winter Olympics in February 2022 and constitutes an important market for global sport.

In 2019, the WTA held nine tournaments in China. Since then, all international tennis championships scheduled in the country have been canceled because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Three years ago, the organization had signed a huge contract with the city of Shenzhen to host the WTA Finals, an event featuring the best tennis players of the season.

Peng Shuai’s whereabouts had been an international concern for nearly three weeks after she posted a message on social media stating that Zhang Gaoli had sexually assaulted her.

After several days missing, the athlete reappeared on the 21st in Beijing and made a video call with IOC (International Olympic Committee) President Thomas Bach, but the WTA said the episode did not alleviate concerns about her well-being .

The IOC, for its part, was accused of just wanting to relieve diplomatic pressure on the holding of the Olympic Games in the country in two months’ time.

“None of this is acceptable nor can it ever become acceptable. If powerful people can suppress women’s voices and sweep allegations of sexual assault under the rug, then the foundation on which the WTA was founded—equality for women—would suffer a huge setback,” Simon declared.

“I’m very sorry that it’s come to this point. The tennis communities in China and Hong Kong are full of great people we’ve worked with for many years,” he added, leaving a door open for a possible change of position in the future.

“Unless China takes the steps we asked for, we cannot put our players and teams at risk by holding events in China. China’s leaders have left the WTA with no choice. measures to legitimately address this issue,” he concluded.