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Fall Peng Shuai: WTA tournaments in China suspended
The Women’s Tennis Association, or WTA for short, announced on Wednesday that it would suspend all tournaments in China and Hong Kong with immediate effect. That decision could cost the WTA hundreds of millions of dollars in broadcast and sponsorship money. The reason for this is the allegations of sexual assault that the Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai brought against the former top official Zhang Gaoli, who was once the vice-premier in Beijing. Shuai’s nearly three-week disappearance sparked global concerns about her whereabouts and the player’s safety in China. According to photos and videos published by the state media, she had since reappeared at a number of events and said in a phone call with the President of the IOC, Thomas Bach, that she was safe. But the WTA continues to be concerned and is calling for a “full and transparent investigation without censorship” of Shuai’s allegations against Zhang Gaoli. Neither Zhang nor the Chinese government have commented on this yet. And the issue has been blocked on China’s heavily censored internet.
The former double world number one Peng Shuai had accused a leading Chinese official of sexual assault.