Women’s Tennis Association willing to pull out of China if Peng Shuai case not investigated

The former Wimbledon and French Open doubles champion’s whereabouts are unknown after she accused a former senior official of sexual assault

CNN signal blocked in China after WTA chief Steve Simon said he was worried about her safety and that money and politics ‘must not dictate what’s right’

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Peng Shuai’s accusations were removed from Chinese social media around 30 minutes after they were posted. Photo: Reuters

Melissa ZhuandMimi Lau

Published: 4:01pm, 19 Nov 2021Updated: 9:48am, 20 Nov 2021

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) is willing to pull the plug on its business in China – worth hundreds of millions of US dollars – if Chinese star player Peng Shuai’s whereabouts are not fully accounted for and her sexual assault allegations are not properly investigated, according to its head Steve Simon.

“We’re at a crossroads with our relationship, obviously, with China and operating our business over there,” he told CNN in an interview on Thursday.

“We’ve had a lot of success over there. I think when you look at this, though, there’s too many times in our world today when we get into issues like this that we let business, politics, money dictate what’s right and what’s wrong.”

Following the interview, CNN reported that its signal had been blocked in China on Friday to prevent further reports on the case being broadcast in the country.

02:22

Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai disappears after online post alleging senior official sexual assault

The WTA has been growing its presence in China, signing a 10-year deal in 2018 to relocate its finals from Singapore to Shenzhen, which Simon, the tour’s chairman and chief executive, described as a “US$1 billion dollar commitment” to the WTA.