Peng Shuai has been banned from competition with immediate effect after The Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) found her guilty of ‘attempting to change her doubles partner after the sign-in deadline‘ at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships.
A statement published on Thursday said the Chinese player tried to encourage her partner to withdraw from the doubles tournament with the use of a financial incentive. An investigation by the TIU concluded that Shuai’s offer was never accepted, but she did break one of the rules of the anti-corruption program which states :-
“No Covered Person shall, directly or indirectly, contrive or attempt to contrive the outcome or any other aspect of any Event.”
Despite the attempts made, the 32-year-old didn’t play in the doubles tournament that year. Focusing instead on the singles where she reached the third round before losing to Simona Halep in straight sets.
Prof Richard H. McLaren, who presided over the hearing on July 16th in London, has handed the world No.80 a six-month ban from the sport with three of those months suspended. Shuai has also been issued with a $10,000 fine, of which $5000 is suspended. During her suspension, she is prohibited from attending any event sanction by the governing bodies of Tennis. Meaning that Shuai will miss the US Open.
Shuai’s coach at the time of the incident, Bertrand Perret, has also been issued with a three-month suspension. Perret worked with her between November 2016 and January 2018. According to orangecoach.com, the Frenchman is now the coach of Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur.
“Mr Perret was found to have used coercion and offered the possibility of financial reward in return for Peng Shuai’s main draw partner agreeing to withdraw from the ladies doubles at Wimbledon 2017.” The TIU concluded.
Shuai hasn’t played a match on the tour since this year’s Wimbledon Championships. A former world No.1 doubles player, she has won two grand slam titles with Hsieh Su-wei. In singles, she has won two WTA trophies in her home country and has been ranked as high as 14th in 2011.
Providing Shuai and Perret do not commit any further violations, they are eligible to return to the tour from November 8th.
