Concerns have grown for tennis star, who hasn\u2019t been seen since accusing former politician of coercing her into sex
\n LONDON
\nThe Women\u2019s Tennis Association on Sunday called on China to investigate allegations of sexual assault made by Peng Shuai against a former Chinese vice premier, while also demanding an end to censorship of the former top-ranked doubles player.
\nPeng, one of China\u2019s biggest sporting stars, alleged on her Weibo social media account on Nov 2 that Zhang Gaoli, who used to be a member of the Politburo Standing Committee – China\u2019s top decision-making body – coerced her into sex and they later had an on-off consensual relationship.
\nPeng, 35, said in the post, which was deleted about half an hour after it was published, that she could provide no evidence to back her allegations.
\nChina\u2019s internet is heavily censored and the private lives of top leaders are an especially sensitive subject.
\nZhang, now 75, was a vice premier between 2013 and 2018 and served on the Politburo Standing Committee between 2012 and 2017.
\nConcerns among the global tennis community have grown as Peng, the first Chinese player to top the world rankings when she was doubles number one in 2014, has not been seen since the post.
\nThe US-based WTA, which runs the women\u2019s tour, said in a statement that it would seek a, \u201cfull, fair and transparent investigation into sexual assault allegations\u201d against the former Chinese leader.
\n\u201cThe recent events in China concerning a WTA player, Peng Shuai, are of deep concern,\u201d said WTA chairman and CEO Steve Simon.
\n\u201cPeng Shuai, and all women, deserve to be heard, not censored. Her accusation about the conduct of a former Chinese leader involving a sexual assault must be treated with the utmost seriousness.\u201d
\nChina\u2019s State Council Information office and the Chinese Tennis Association did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the WTA\u2019s statement.
\nWTA chief Simon told the New York Times on Sunday that no one at the Tour has talked directly to Peng but that he had received assurances from the Chinese Tennis Association that she was safe \u201cand not under any physical threat\u201d.
\nThe International Tennis Federation and the ATP men\u2019s tour did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
\nAGGRESSIVE EXPANSION
\nChina has been the focus of the WTA\u2019s most aggressive expansion over the last decade and hosted nine tournaments in the 2019 season with a total $30.4 million prize money on offer.
\nThe season-ending WTA Finals had a prize purse of $14 million in 2019 when it was played in Shenzhen for the first time.
\nThe Finals were cancelled last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic and moved this year to Guadalajara, Mexico but the WTA has said it will return to Shenzhen from 2022 until 2030.
\nOn Monday morning in China, there was no disruption to the live streaming of matches from Guadalajara on iQiyi, which holds the broadcast rights in China for WTA tournaments.
\n\u201cI think everybody fully understands what\u2019s at stake here on many different fronts as we\u2019re going through it,\u201d Simon told the New York Times. \u201cI think we\u2019re certainly, from players to board to council, fully united that the only acceptable approach is that of doing what is right.\u201d
\nFrench player Alize Cornet showed her support for Peng under the hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai, while former world number one American Chris Evert also took to social media to voice her concerns.
\nTennis great Martina Navratilova took to Twitter to support the WTA\u2019s call for a probe. \u201cA very strong stance by WTA – and the correct stance!\u201d Navratilova wrote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Concerns have grown for tennis star, who hasn\u2019t been seen since accusing former politician of coercing her into sex LONDON The Women\u2019s Tennis Association on Sunday called on China to investigate allegations of sexual assault made by Peng Shuai against a former Chinese vice premier, while also demanding an end to censorship of the former […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":227616,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-227603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n