(Beijing) The boss of the WTA, who manages the professional women’s tennis circuit, does not rule out withdrawing competitions from China if Beijing does not shed light on the disappearance of champion Peng Shuai.
The tennis world has not heard from the player since she accused a former senior Communist regime official in early November of forcing her to have sex.
In an interview with CNN on Thursday, WTA boss Steve Simon threatened to withdraw women’s tennis competitions from China if the country does not clear up the matter.
PHOTO YONG TECK LIM, AP
The big boss of the WTA, Steve Simon
“We are completely ready to withdraw (from China) our activities and face all the complications that arise from it,” said the boss of women’s tennis.
“Because it’s (rape accusations) more important than business,” Simon told US TV station.
Peng Shuai, 35, accused on social media the former Deputy Prime Minister Zhang Gaoli – who was from 2013 to 2018 one of the seven most powerful politicians in China – of having forced her to sex three years ago, before making her his mistress.
This accusation was briefly posted on November 2 on the official Weibo account, Chinese equivalent of Twitter, of the player.
China quickly blocked any reference to this message. AFP was unable to confirm whether it was written by Peng Shuai in person.
Since then, the player has not directly communicated or made a public appearance and Zhang Gaoli has never reacted publicly to these accusations.
On Wednesday, the Chinese English-language public channel CGTN unveiled a screenshot of an email attributed to Peng Shuai, which the Chinese player allegedly sent to the WTA management.
On CNN, Mr. Simon reiterated his doubts about the authenticity of this message in which the champion declares “false” his accusations against Zhang Gaoli.
“I don’t believe that’s the truth at all,” Simon told CNN, calling the email “staged”.
“If she was forced to write it, if someone wrote it for her, we don’t know […] but until we talk to him in person we won’t be reassured, ”said the WTA official.
When questioned several times, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokespersons said they were completely ignorant of this affair, which they refused to comment on, arguing that it was not a diplomatic issue.