The head of the International Tennis Federation says he is assured that former doubles world No.1 Peng Shuai is not in danger after being in contact with the tennis player.
David Haggerty told Sky News that he has been regularly in contact with Shuai and last spoke to her about six weeks ago. The Chinese player hasn’t travelled abroad since making an allegation of sexual assault against a former politician in her native country. In a post on the social media site Weibo Shuai said she had an on-off extramarital “relationship” with former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli and accused him of sexually assaulting her. Shortly afterwards her post was deleted and searches for her name were blocked by internet censors in China. She then disappeared from the public eye for a couple of weeks before returning and later saying that her post was a ‘misunderstanding.’
However, some fear that Shuai is being censored by authorities in her country and has not been able to speak freely. Last December the WTA announced that they will pause holding tournaments in China over concerns about the safety of one of their players. Both the ITF and ATP don’t have such a suspension in place but haven’t held events in the country due to the covid-19 situation.
Hoping to ease these fears, Haggerty says he ‘felt good’ when recently speaking with Peng. The American official says that it is important that tennis tournaments are held in China which he describes as an ‘important market.’ The ITF estimates that there are 200M people who play tennis in China.
“I felt good with my conversation with Peng and… that’s why I continue to stay in touch,” Haggerty told Sky News.
“It’d be nice to see her face to face and I’m looking forward to that, when I’m able to travel to China for the events, and when she’s able to travel outside of China, as well.
“So from my perspective, I think that tennis should be played, especially by juniors (in China). We want our sport to be able to develop and grow and China’s a very, very important market.”
The ITF has also confirmed that events will be held in China again next year once the COVID-19 restrictions are eased. It is understood that the ATP will do the same but the WTA are yet to make a decision.
“The ITF feels that events can take place in China as the restrictions are now hopefully going to be lifted,” Haggerty added.
“In 2023, there will be junior events, senior events, our competitions taking place in China, when the COVID restrictions are relieved.”
BBC journalist Kerry Allen reported on June 24th that a search for Shuai’s name on Weibo, one of China’s most popular internet sites, only produced one result. This was seven months after the allegations first surfaced on social media.
Shuai has won 23 WTA doubles titles during her career and another two in singles.
