The Women’s Tennis Association is set to announce that they will end their boycott of China this year, according to The Daily Mail.
All relationships between the WTA and China were suspended in December 2021 amid concerns about the welfare of former world No.1 doubles player Peng Shuai. There are concerns that Shuai is being censored by authorities after making allegations of sexual assault against a former Chinese official. The tennis star has since said her allegation was a misunderstanding but most of her public interactions have been through the state-control media. It is unknown where she is at present or if she can leave China if she wants to do so.
WTA CEO Steve Simon has maintained a firm stance on the matter by insisting that a proper investigation is conducted by authorities. Due to these unresolved concerns, it was decided to suspend tournaments in China.
“We’ve made a strong stand, and we stand behind that stance, and we’re not going to compromise our principles,” Simon told The New York Times in December 2022.
However, Sportsmail reports that the WTA has decided to host seven events in China later this year, including the end-of-season finals in Shenzhen. Even though it appears that there has been no resolution to the Shuai case.
China is yet to comment on the report but there was a brief hint of tournaments returning to their country earlier this year. On January 31st the website of the Shenzen regional government published a summary of their High Quality Development Conference. The event was attended by regional politicians and ‘adhered to the guidance of President Xi Jinping.’ Among their outlining of goals for 2023, the WTA Finals were mentioned.
“Thie third (goal) is to focus on consumption growth….. successfully host high-level events such as the Shenzhen Marathon and Shenzhen WTA Finals,” a quote from sz.com.cn read.
At the time of that statement, there was little reaction from within the tennis world to this comment except for a couple of Chinese news outlets such as Shenzhen Evening News.
The likely return of tennis in China will attract criticism from some. Earlier this month, a China researcher at Human Rights Watch said she was hopeful that the organisation would stick to their principles. Yaqui Wang said that human rights are more important than any financial loss which the WTA might be suffering from.
“I have tremendous sympathy for the WTA because I know it’s losing a lot of money but I have to say it got so much praise for standing up for the values it believes in contrary to a lot of other businesses,” Wang told The Reuters News Agency.
“At the time it happened, I felt very inspired and I really hope it (WTA) can stick to what it said. I understand it’s a lot of money but human rights are more important.
“Honestly, it should care for its own players.“
The WTA is yet to comment on this matter.
