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To support Peng Shuai, the WTA suspends the women’s tournaments planned in China

Peng Shuai, the mystery of the “missing” Chinese tennis playerdossier

The Chinese player had disappeared after accusing a former leader of the Chinese regime of sexual abuse, sparking an unprecedented wave of mobilization in the tennis world.

They are united. “Whatever the financial consequences”, the WTA on Wednesday announced the suspension of women’s tennis tournaments in China, including Hong Kong, in support of player Peng Shuai who accused a former top Chinese Communist leader of sexual abuse. In the process, the measure was greeted by several champions of the discipline, including Billie Jean King, 12 times Grand Slam champion in singles, and Novak Djokovic.

No WTA tournament was planned before the end of the year and the 2022 schedule has yet to be released. During the 2019 season, the last not to have been impacted by the Covid-19, 10 tournaments were organized in China, including the end-of-year women’s Masters which, with $ 14 million, had been better endowed financially. than their male counterparts.

“None of this is acceptable and never will be. If the powerful can suppress women’s voices and sweep accusations of sexual abuse under the rug, then the foundation upon which the WTA is built – equality for women – would be greatly shaken. I can’t let this happen to the players and I won’t let it ”, insists Steve Simon, the president of the WTA, in a particularly virulent press release.

Steve Simon called thes “world leaders” to follow him. “In good conscience, I don’t see how I can ask our athletes to participate in tournaments when Peng Shuai is not allowed to communicate freely and has, it seems, been pressured to reconsider. allegations of sexual abuse ”, writes the president of the WTA.

He added to be “Very worried about the risks that all our players and staff would take if we organize tournaments in China in 2022 […] The leaders of China have left no choice to the WTA “. Steve Simon does not stop at this strong decision: he calls for a mobilization against China: “The WTA will do everything possible to protect its players,” said Simon. I hope world leaders will continue to stand up for justice for Peng and all women, regardless of the financial consequences. ”

“Even though we now know where Peng is, I have serious doubts that she be free, safe and not subject to censorship, coercion or intimidation. “, he added.

World tennis number 1 Novak Djokovic, still competing in the Davis Cup, gave his full support from Madrid on Wednesday evening. “I fully support the position of the WTA because we don’t have enough information on Shuai Peng”, he said. Among the first to react to this decision by the president of the WTA, the Czech Petra Kvitova had tweeted an applauding emoji, while the French Alizé Cornet wrote “What a leader!”. Former world number 1 Andy Roddick underlined the risk taken by the WTA boss: “Acting well is much easier when it costs nothing. Respect.”

Peng Shuai, 35, disappeared a few days in November after posting a long message on Chinese social network Weibo in which she accused ex-Deputy Prime Minister Zhang Gaoli, 40 years her senior and since retired, of the having sexually abused before making her his mistress.

Many stars of world tennis, from Chris Evert to Djokovic already, and several Western countries, notably France and the United States, but also the European Union and the UN, have asked Beijing to clarify the fate of Peng Shuai . The young woman reappeared on November 21 in a restaurant in Beijing and during a tennis tournament held in the Chinese capital, according to videos published by official media.

She also declared during a videoconference with the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach, to be “safe and sound at her home in Beijing” but that she “would like her privacy to be respected”. Chinese Olympic Committee member Li Lingwei participated in the video conference. “Chinese leaders have had opportunities to lift censorship, to verifiably prove that Peng was free and able to speak out without outside interference or intimidation, and to conduct a full, fair and transparent investigation into his accusations of sexual abuse “, adds Steve Simon in his press release, regretting that Beijing has not “Acted credibly”.

Beijing’s only official reaction to date has been a call by Chinese diplomacy spokesman Zhao Lijian on November 23 to “stop deliberately blaming this issue for hostile purposes, and especially make a political question ”.

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