Peng Shuai missing: WTA threatens to leave China over athlete’s disappearance

The Women's Tennis Association is prepared to lose millions of dollars by removing its tournaments from China.

China is facing increased pressure to prove the whereabouts of missing tennis star Peng Shuai, after the head of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) threatened to pull tournaments out of China and the United Nations asked for proof that she is well.

Shuai, 35, has not been seen publicly since she posted on Chinese social media site Weibo earlier this month, alleging sexual assault by former Chinese vice premier Zhang Gaoli.

Shuai, a former No. 1 ranked women’s doubles player and three-time Olympian, alleged she was “forced” into a sexual relationship with Zhang between 2013 and 2018. The Nov. 2 post was removed from her verified Weibo account, and the country’s state-controlled media has suppressed all reporting on the case.

WTA Chairman Steve Simon said Friday that he’s willing to pull the organization out of China — a move that would cost the WTA hundreds of millions of dollars.

“We’re definitely willing to pull our business and deal with all the complications that come with it,” Simon said. “Because this is certainly, this is bigger than the business.”

“We continue to call for independent and verifiable proof that Peng Shuai is safe and that her sexual assault allegation will be investigated fully, fairly and without censorship. If not, the WTA is prepared to do what is right,” he said.

China has been the focus of the WTA’s most aggressive expansion over the last decade and hosted nine tournaments in the 2019 season with a total of $30.4 million of prize money on offer. The season-ending WTA Finals had a prize purse of $14 million in 2019 when it was played in Shenzhen for the first time.

The 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.