Where is tennis player Peng Shuai? The case threatens the interests of the WTA in China

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), which runs the women’s world tennis circuit, endangers one of its major markets by pressuring China for the disappearance of tennis player Peng Shuai after denouncing that she had been raped by a high-ranking communist leader in the country.

Before the pandemic, the WTA held 10 tournaments in China each year (out of more than 60), including the Shenzhen Master – the most lucrative of all the masters tournament.

These competitions were endowed with a total of US $ 30 million (26.4 million euros).

The WTA raised its voice in the face of Beijing’s silence following the disappearance of Peng Shuai, a former doubles champion, after accusing Zhang Gaoli, a former top Communist Party leader, of raping her.

The regime quickly suppressed the post attributed to Peng Shuai on Chinese social media.

The WTA demanded an investigation “transparent and fair”On the accusations made by the player. Its director, Steve Simon, pointed out on CNN on Thursday the possibility of withdrawing the competitions from the country.

“We are ready to retire our business and face all the complications that arise because this is more important than the businessSimon said.

On Wednesday, the official Chinese channel in English language CGTN unveiled a screenshot of an email attributed to Peng Shuai and allegedly addressed to the WTA address where it said it was fine.

“I don’t think that’s the truth at all”, Indicated Simon, qualifying as“staging” the message.

Retaliation Policy

This taking a firm position may provoke anger in China, several experts explain to AFP, especially in view of the policy of retaliation carried out by the Asian giant when other athletes dared to criticize the regime.

Chinese technology giant Tencent’s dedicated sports platform stopped broadcasting the Boston Celtics’ NBA games earlier this season after one of its players, Enes Kanter, described Chinese President Xi Jinping as a “brutal dictator. ”.

The NBA already lost $ 200 million (about 170 million euros) when Daryl Morey, then general manager of the Houston Rockets, tweeted his support for pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.

In view of the events, the position of the WTA is “very unusual“Says Simon Chadwick, professor specialized in sport finance at the Emlyon Business School:”Chinese authorities don’t like being told what to do”.

But in a context marked by the possibility of a US diplomatic boycott of the Winter Games, scheduled for February in China, the WTA may be taking a calculated risk.

Women’s tennis depends less on China than the NBA, a phenomenon in the Asian giant, says Chadwick.

Furthermore, Beijing has little means to pressure the WTA: competitions have been suspended or relocated from the country in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. And, at the moment, the return of women’s tests does not seem close due to the strict sanitary rules.

The WTA “has learned to live without China”Says Mark Dreyer, creator of the China Sports Insider site. “The consequences of their positioning are less important today than they could have in the past ”.

The Chinese authorities cannot directly interfere in the organization of WTA tournaments in their territory, but they could adopt other less intrusive measures such as prohibiting Internet users from commenting on the matches, explains Chinese blogger Uyang Wensheng, a tennis specialist.

For a few days, world tennis figures have expressed their concern on Twitter with the hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai (# DondeEstaPengShuai).

Chinese censorship has suppressed any trace of Peng’s allegations on social media, especially references in statements from the WTA or the ATP, the men’s circuit, which has also shown support.

Chinese authorities, the national tennis federation and the WTA have not responded to requests to address the AFP issue.