WTA suspends China occasions over Peng Shuai issues

In the strongest public stand in opposition to China taken by a sports activities physique, the top of the ladies’s skilled tennis tour introduced Wednesday that every one WTA tournaments there can be suspended due to issues concerning the security of Peng Shuai, a Grand Slam doubles champion who accused a former authorities official of sexual assault.
Peng dropped out of public view after elevating the allegations about former vice premier Zhang Gaoli in a Nov. 2 social media posting that was shortly taken down by Chinese authorities.
“Unfortunately, the leadership in China has not addressed this very serious issue in any credible way,” WTA Chairman and CEO Steve Simon wrote in an announcement distributed by the tour. “While we now know where Peng is, I have serious doubts that she is free, safe, and not subject to censorship, coercion, and intimidation.”
Simon has made repeated requires what he termed Wednesday a “full and transparent investigation _ without censorship” into Peng’s accusations. He stated the transfer to place a halt to his tour’s play in China, together with Hong Kong, got here “with the full support of the WTA Board of Directors.”
“In good conscience, I don’t see how I can ask our athletes to compete there when Peng Shuai is not allowed to communicate freely and has seemingly been pressured to contradict her allegation of sexual assault,” Simon stated. “Given the current state of affairs, I am also greatly concerned about the risks that all of our players and staff could face if we were to hold events in China in 2022.”

“With the full support of the WTA Board of Directors, I am announcing the immediate suspension of all WTA tournaments in China, including Hong Kong.”
— wta (@WTA) December 1, 2021
China is meant to be the positioning of a number of tennis tournaments subsequent yr, together with the celebrated season-ending WTA Finals, that are scheduled to be held there till 2030. The nation is a supply of billions of {dollars} in revenue for numerous sports activities entities primarily based elsewhere, from the WTA (whose headquarters are in St. Petersburg, Florida) to the NBA (run out of New York) and the International Olympic Committee (Lausanne, Switzerland).
“I applaud Steve Simon and the WTA leadership for taking a strong stand on defending human rights in China and around the world,” Billie Jean King stated. “The WTA has chosen to be on the right side of history in defending the rights of our players. This is yet another reason why women’s tennis is the leader in women’s sports.”
Beijing is about to host the Winter Games starting on Feb. 4, and IOC President Thomas Bach stated on Nov. 21 that he spoke with Peng _ a three-time Olympian _ on a 30-minute video name. The IOC didn’t launch video or a transcript of the alternate and stated solely that Bach reported that she stated she was effectively.
The IOC stated in an announcement that Peng gave the impression to be “doing fine” and stated she had requested privateness. The IOC didn’t clarify how the decision was organized, though it has labored carefully with the Chinese Olympic Committee and authorities officers to prepare the upcoming Games.
Critics have advised that Peng wouldn’t have known as the IOC if she was actually free to talk.
The European Union stated Tuesday it needs China to supply “verifiable proof” that Peng _ a 35-year-old who was ranked No. 1 in doubles and received titles at Wimbledon and the French Open _ is protected.
“Her recent public reappearance does not ease concerns about her safety and freedom,” an EU spokesperson stated.

Quite a lot of Chinese businesspeople, activists and abnormal individuals have disappeared lately after criticizing ruling Communist Party figures or in crackdowns on corruption or pro-democracy and labor rights campaigns.
Peng wrote in her eliminated put up, partially: “I know that to you, vice minister Zhang Gaoli, a person of high status and power, you’ve said you’re not afraid. With your intelligence, you certainly will deny it or you can even use it against me, you can dismiss it without a care. Even if I’m destroying myself, like throwing an egg against a rock, or a moth flying into a flame, I will still speak out the truth about us.”
Concerns concerning the censoring of her put up and her subsequent disappearance from public view grew right into a furor, turning (hash)WhereIsPengShuai right into a trending matter on social media and drawing assist from tennis stars resembling Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Martina Navratilova.
But information of the primary (hash)MeToo case to succeed in the political realm in China has not been reported by the home media and on-line dialogue of it has been extremely censored.
“If powerful people can suppress the voices of women and sweep allegations of sexual assault under the rug, then the basis on which the WTA was founded _ equality for women _ would suffer an immense setback,” Simon stated. “I will not and cannot let that happen to the WTA and its players.”