No one really expects much in the way of principles or morality from those charged with running international sport. The Qatar World Cup was merely the latest, most blatant example of the iron rule that money and greed conquers all in sport. But for a brief moment — 16 months to be precise — the Women’s Tennis Association appeared to offer hope of something better. The WTA announced to the world in December 2021 that it would indefinitely boycott all tournaments in China over the regime’s treatment of tennis star, Peng Shuai, who vanished after making allegations of sexual assault against a senior politician.
The WTA was widely praised at the time for its courage in standing up to China, but any credit, moral or otherwise, has vanished after a shameless U-turn by the WTA which now says it will return to competition in China, even though it has been given no real answers to its questions about Peng’s safety and freedom. The WTA even had the effrontery to try to justify what amounts to a craven reversal with some weasel words: ‘Peng cannot be forgotten through this process… The WTA will continue to advocate for Peng and the advancement of women around the world.’ Yeah, right.
Peng is (or was, until the regime acted against her) one of China’s most popular and successful players, and a former world No. 1 in doubles. She accused Zhang Gaoli, the former Chinese vice premier, of sexual assault in a detailed post on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. The post quickly disappeared, and so did Peng. She last appeared in public in February 2022 at the Beijing Winter Games and gave what appeared to be a carefully orchestrated interview to the French sports news site L’Equipe, in which she claimed her original post was ‘an enormous misunderstanding’, and that she was retiring from tennis. Her claims of sexual assault gained worldwide attention because of the alleged involvement of a senior political figure. Such claims will have come as a grave embarrassment to the Chinese Communist Party which does everything it can to avoid scrutiny of what goes on in the highly secretive corridors of power. The leadership will have been determined to make an example of Peng.
That’s why it took guts for a tennis organisation to challenge the all-powerful Chinese leadership. When it took the original decision to suspend tournaments in China, the WTA said it would put principle over profit, even if that meant losing hundreds of millions of dollars in broadcasting and sponsorship. Peng’s case was apparently ‘bigger than business’. ‘We will stay resolute’ insisted Steve Simon, the organisation’s chief executive. Simon has repeatedly made clear, as recently as March, that the WTA would return only when it was able to contact Peng and if the authorities conducted a ‘full, fair and transparent investigation’ of her claims.
Cynics are right to point out that the boycott took place while China was still closed to the outside world because of the pandemic, so it came at no real cost. This year would be the first that would have required an active boycott and instead the WTA has simply buckled. It is now back to business as usual. Can anyone really be that surprised? China constitutes a major part of the WTA’s income and women’s tennis increasingly revolves around major tournaments there, generating millions in prize money.
Make no mistake. The WTA abandoning its principles is a gift to Beijing. It marks a significant setback to wider international efforts to hold China accountable for its appalling human rights record. It will only embolden China’s leaders in their calculation that it is safe to ignore any outside criticism because such concerns are inevitably short-lived and, sooner or later, China’s immense financial pull will prove too big a draw for morals or principles to get in the way. The WTA is just the latest international sporting body, alongside the International Olympics Committee, Fifa and the NBA, to turn a blind eye to China’s abuses. Money and greed has won, again.
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