WTA to make China return in September after Peng boycott

PARIS: Professional women’s tennis tournaments will resume in China in September after a 16-month boycott over concerns for the safety of Chinese player Peng Shuai, the WTA announced on Thursday.

The former doubles world number one has not been seen outside China since first making, and then withdrawing, accusations of sexual assault against a high-ranking official. “In 2021, when Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai bravely came forward, the WTA took a stance and suspended its operation of events in China out of concern for her safety and the safety of our players and staff,” it said.

But the WTA, the principal body that runs women’s professional tennis, admitted its “principled stand... a powerful message to the world”, while garnering praise, had not been able “to bring about change”.

“After 16 months of suspended tennis competition in China and sustained efforts at achieving our original requests, the situation has shown no sign of changing,” the WTA said. “We have concluded we will never fully secure those goals, and it will be our players and tournaments who ultimately will be paying an extraordinary price for their sacrifices.

“For these reasons, the WTA is lifting its suspension of the operation of tournaments in the People’s Republic of China and will resume tournaments in China this September.” The WTA added: “We have not been able to achieve everything we set out for, but we have been in touch with people close to Peng and are assured she is living safely with her family in Beijing.

“We also have received assurances that WTA players and staff operating in China will be safe and protected while in the country. The WTA takes this commitment seriously and will hold all parties responsible.”

The WTA said as recently as in January that it had called for a “formal investigation into the allegations by the appropriate authorities and an opportunity for the WTA to meet with Peng - privately - to discuss her situation”.

“While we have always indicated we are hopeful we will be in a position to again operate WTA events in the region, we will not compromise our founding principles in order to do so,” it said at the time.

“A return to the region will require a resolution to the Peng Shuai situation in which Peng took a bold step in publicly coming forth with the accusation that she was sexually assaulted by a senior Chinese government leader.”

Peng had alleged in a social media post that former Chinese vice-premier Zhang Gaoli forced her into sex during a years-long relationship, but has since twice denied she accused anyone of sexual assault and described the situation as a “huge misunderstanding”.