Present at the Strasbourg tournament on Wednesday, WTA President Steve Simon told the newspaper L’Equipe that he had heard from Shuai Peng and assured that she is safe.
Shuai Peng has not spoken publicly since her interview with the newspaper. The team during the Beijing Winter Olympics in February 2022. But the former Chinese tennis player, now 37, is safe. This is in any case what assured Steve Simon, the president of the WTA, present Wednesday at the Strasbourg tournament. He spoke about the return of Chinese tournaments to the calendar this fall, after four years of absence due to the coronavirus pandemic and then concern around the Shuai Peng case. Recall that the player had accused of rape, via social networks, a senior Chinese political leader in November 2021, then had deleted her message before disappearing from circulation for several days (a method often used in China in this kind of case). ) before reappearing, even though the videos in which she was seen were difficult to authenticate.
Simon: “We never said we would never come back to China”
A year and a half later, Steve Simon, in comments relayed by The team, therefore wanted to be reassuring. “We have taken a very strong position in China (not playing tournaments, editor’s note), which very few companies or industries have done. We do not question this decision. It was the right decision to make and I would do it again today. Almost two years later, the progress we wanted to see in China has not led to a solution. So it was time to change the approach. We have been reassured that Peng Shuai is safe and we know where she is. Then we received confirmation that all our athletes and staff will be able to come in good conditions. We could have stalled and gone no further. This is a change of position. But we never said that we will never come back to China. The main thing is, how can we continue to defend the interests of Peng Shuai and how can we make meaningful changes there to solve the problems? We have to talk and be together to find solutions. And I hope the return of the WTA to China will give us the opportunity to do so.” Let’s now hope that Shuai Peng will make an appearance at the first tournament held in China this fall…
