Women's Tennis Association suspends tournaments in China over concerns about player Peng Shuai

In the strongest public stand against China taken by a sports body, the head of the women's professional tennis tour announced Wednesday that all Women's Tennis Association tournaments there would be suspended because of concerns about the safety of Peng Shuai, a Grand Slam doubles champion who accused a former government official of sexual assault.

Peng dropped out of public view after raising the allegations about former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli in a Nov. 2 social media posting that was quickly taken down by Chinese authorities.

"Unfortunately, the leadership in China has not addressed this very serious issue in any credible way," Women's Tennis Association (WTA) chairman and CEO Steve Simon wrote in a statement distributed by the tour.

"While we now know where Peng is, I have serious doubts that she is free, safe, and not subject to censorship, coercion, and intimidation."

Simon has made repeated calls for what he termed Wednesday as a "full and transparent investigation — without censorship" into Peng's accusations. He said the move to put a halt to the tour's play in China, including Hong Kong, came "with the full support of the WTA board of directors."

"In good conscience, I don't see how I can ask our athletes to compete there when Peng Shuai is not allowed to communicate freely and has seemingly been pressured to contradict her allegation of sexual assault," Simon said.

"Given the current state of affairs, I am also greatly concerned about the risks that all of our players and staff could face if we were to hold events in China in 2022."

China is supposed to be the site of several tennis tournaments next year, including the prestigious season-ending WTA Finals, which are scheduled to be held there until 2030.

The nation is a source of billions of dollars in income for various sports entities based elsewhere, from the WTA (whose headquarters are in St. Petersburg, Fla.) to the NBA (run out of New York) and the International Olympic Committee (Lausanne, Switzerland).

"I applaud Steve Simon and the WTA leadership for taking a strong stand on defending human rights in China and around the world," said tennis legend Billie Jean King.

"The WTA has chosen to be on the right side of history in defending the rights of our players. This is yet another reason why women's tennis is the leader in women's sports."

The U.S. Tennis Association commended Simon and the WTA, tweeting a statement that read: "This type of leadership is courageous and what is needed to ensure the rights of all individuals are protected and all voices are heard."

International Tennis Federation spokesperson Heather Bowler said the ITF Board would meet Thursday to discuss the matter.

"The WTA has remained steadfast and true to its values since the outset, and we understand their decision," Bowler said. "We will continue to monitor the situation closely."