The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has announced an immediate suspension of all WTA tournaments in China, including Hong Kong. The decision is a response to the lack of transparency by Chinese officials in Peng Shuai’s case, after the tennis star publicly accused former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault.
“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,” chairman and CEO Steve Simon said in a statement. “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.”
The concerns over the safety of Peng Shuai have been increasing since November 2, when she made her accusation in a social media post, now deleted. Following the accusation, Peng disappeared from public view, prompting several fellow tennis players to express worry on social media.
WTA breaks the deals with China: How much money is involved?
China has invested in tennis since more than a decade ago, and the country hosts nine tournaments in the WTA Tour: Zhengzhou Open, Guangzhou Open, Wuhan Open (WTA 1000), Beijing Open, Hong Kong Open, Jiangxi Open, WTA Elite and Tianjin Open.
The country has a 10-year $1 billion deal to host the WTA Finals in Shenzhen, which was signed in 2018. But, more than that, the WTA also had a streaming agreement with China’s biggest platform, iQiyi, for $120 million. According to Sportico, the total prize money of the tournament held in the Asian country was $30.4 million.
The WTA expressed its support to Peng in several statements, asking for a “transparent and censorship free” investigation on the matter. In the last statement, Simon goes on to explain he has “serious doubts that she is free, safe, and not subject to censorship, coercion, and intimidation.”
European Union asked for “verifiable proof” of Peng Shuai well-being
While on November 21, the president of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach said in a statement that he had a video call with Peng, in which there were also present a Chinese sports official and IOC official, the WTA and several NGOs criticized the statementand didn’t believe it was proof of well-being.
The IOC did not explain how the video call with Peng was organized and has not made the video publicly available. The European Union on Tuesday said it wants China to release “verifiable proof” that Peng is safe and to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into her sexual assault allegations.