The women’s professional tennis tour will bring its events back to China later this year, announcing on Thursday the end of a boycott instituted in late 2021 over concerns about the safety of former player Peng Shuai after she accused a high-ranking government official there of sexual assault.
WTA Chairman and CEO Steve Simon said in an interview with
The Associated Press that while what he sought was never delivered — a chance
for someone from the tour to meet with Peng, along with a full and transparent
investigation into the Grand Slam doubles champion’s accusations — the decision
was made, with input from player and tournament representatives, to return to
the country.
“The stance that we took at the time was appropriate. And we
stand by that. But 16 months into this, we’re convinced that our requests will
not be met. And to continue with the same strategy doesn’t make sense,” Simon
said from St. Petersburg, Florida, where the WTA is based.
“So we needed to look at a different approach. With this,
our members believe it’s time to resume the mission in China, where we believe
we can continue to make a positive difference, as we have for the last 20
years, while at the same time making sure that Peng is not forgotten. By
returning, hopefully more progress can be made.”
Although there have been no reports of Peng sightings in
public since carefully orchestrated appearances during the Beijing Olympics in
February 2022, Simon said the WTA has “received assurances from people who are
close to her, that we’ve been in contact with, that she is safe and living with
her family in Beijing.”
He added that the tour has been assured by the Chinese
Tennis Association, the sport’s national governing body, that “there won’t be
any issues with our athletes or our staff while they’re competing within the
region.”
He called the change in course “an organizational decision”
and noted: “The great majority of the athletes were supportive and wanted to
see a return ... and felt it was time to go back.”
The tour’s schedule in China should be revealed in the next
couple of weeks, Simon said. It will begin in September and include the
season-ending WTA Finals in Shenzhen and other stops similar to what was played
in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic led to a round of cancellations.
Peng, now 37, won doubles trophies at Wimbledon and the
French Open and reached the No. 1 ranking in doubles; in singles, she was a
U.S. Open semifinalist and was ranked as high as No. 14. She dropped out of
public view after saying in a social media post in November 2021 that former
vice premier Zhang Gaoli forced her to have sex. The post was quickly taken
down by Chinese authorities.
The following month, Simon — with the backing of the WTA
Board of Directors, players, tournaments and sponsors — said the tour would
suspend play in China. That was the strongest public stand against China by a
sports body and cost the WTA millions of dollars in revenue.
Peng later tried to recant, including in a controlled
interview during last year’s Winter Games. After the Olympics, the global
attention and outrage raised by her case — “ Where is Peng Shuai? ” was a
popular rallying cry, a T-shirt slogan seen at Grand Slam tournaments, a
trending topic on social media — seems to have lessened.
The ATP men’s tennis tour and the International Tennis
Federation, which oversees the Billie Jean King Cup and Davis Cup along with
lower-level tournaments for individual players, recently said they would resume
operations in China after staying away because of COVID-19.
The ITF said Thursday it welcomed the WTA’s decision to
resume play in China.
“Regarding Peng Shuai, while she appears safe and well, we
will continue to seek assurances about her ongoing safety and welcome all other
organizations’ efforts to support her, both publicly and behind the scenes,”
ITF President David Haggerty said.
Back when he first delivered the news about leaving China,
Simon told the AP: ”... the one thing that we can’t do is walk away from this,
because if we’re walking away from the key elements — which is obviously not
only her well-being, but the investigation — then we’re telling the world that
not addressing sexual assault with respect to the seriousness it requires is
OK, because it’s too difficult. And it’s simply something that we can’t let
happen.”
Asked whether Thursday’s move could be construed by some as
backing down, Simon replied: “Well, everybody will have their own opinions on
that, for sure. I can understand how someone might look at it that way, for
sure. But we took a stand that no one else has.
And, I think, from that, we did receive some things that we
didn’t think we would get, as well,” citing the assurances about Peng’s safety
and that of WTA players and staff upon return to China. -AP
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