In recent days, the tennis community has been seriously concerned about the fate of the former first racket of the world in doubles Peng Shuai from China.
She has not been in touch for two weeks after she accused former Deputy Prime Minister Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault.
The World Tennis Association (WTA) demanded to initiate an investigation and seek justice against the athlete.
It all started with a post by Peng Shuai published on November 2 on the Chinese social network Weibo.
The tennis player wrote it from her verified account, to which more than half a million people are subscribed.
In her voluminous message, she told the story of her relationship with Zhang Gaoli, who served as First Deputy Prime Minister of the State Council of the People's Republic of China and was a member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo.
Peng Shuai briefly mentioned how she had sexual relations with the politician in 2011 while he was still working in Tianjin.
But they soon stopped communicating as Zhang Gaoli got promoted and moved to Beijing.
Seven years later, when he retired from his political career, he again contacted the then current tennis player.
Peng Shuai stated that Zhang Gaoli then forced her to have sexual intercourse.
After that, a full-fledged relationship began between them, although at that moment he was married.
The athlete admitted that she had feelings for a man who is 40 years older than her.
This continued until recently, until a strong quarrel occurred between them.
After that, the winner of two Grand Slam tournaments in doubles decided to tell in detail about everything that they were hiding.
Peng Shuai also noted that she had not kept any evidence of their connection.
Already 20 minutes after the publication, the post was deleted, and its contents were preserved only in screenshots.
Also, censorship in the Chinese segment of the Internet was increased, as a result of which the requests for the words "Peng Shuai" and "tennis" became unavailable to users.
The athlete did not write any more messages and did not comment on what happened in any way.
Peng Shuai's disappearance after the allegations were voiced worried her colleagues.
The 59th racket of the world Alize Cornet from France urged not to be silent about the Chinese woman, and her compatriot Nicolas Mayu retweeted the post with an appeal to the WTA to stand up for the athlete.
The owner of 18 titles at Grand Slam tournaments Chris Evert did not stand aside either.
“Yes, these accusations are alarming.
I have known Peng since she was 14 years old.
We should all be concerned.
This is serious.
Where is she?
Is she safe?
Any information will be useful, ”the American wrote on Twitter.
After that, the head of the WTA Steve Simon made a statement.
On behalf of his organization, he supported the athlete and called for an open and independent investigation into the allegations.
“The recent events in China concerning WTA player Peng Shuai are deeply troubling. As an organization dedicated to women, we remain true to the principles on which we were founded - equality, opportunity and respect. Peng Shuai, like all women, deserves to be heard, not forced to remain silent. Her accusations of sexual abuse related to the former Chinese leader must be taken seriously. In any society, the behavior that she says has taken place should be investigated and not justified or ignored, ”Simon said.
In a personal conversation with reporters for The New York Times, the head of the WTA said that his sources, including those from the China Tennis Association, confirm that Peng Shuai is safe.
However, he himself cannot confirm this information, since none of the officials or other players have yet contacted the 35-year-old athlete.
Supported by Simon and Andrea Gaudenzi, who holds a similar position in the Association of Professional Tennis Players.
He stated that nothing is more important than the safety of the tennis community and expressed concern over the disappearance of the Chinese woman.
“We are encouraged by the recent assurances received by the WTA that the girl is safe and supervised and we will continue to monitor the situation closely.
We also fully support the WTA's call for a full, fair and transparent investigation of allegations of sexual violence, ”the ATP press service quoted Gaudenzi as saying.
The first racket of the world, Novak Djokovic, did not bypass the topic of the loss of a colleague.
After defeating Norwegian Kasper Rud in the opening match of the Final Tournament of the Year, he admitted that he was shocked by the news from China.
"This is terrible.
Moreover, she is the kind of person that I have often met on tour over the previous years.
I really hope that everything is all right with her.
I can imagine how her family feels, knowing that she has disappeared, ”AFP quotes Djokovic as saying.
It is worth noting that China is perhaps the most important partner of the WTA.
The organization signed a 10-year contract to host the WTA Finals in Shenzhen, under which the Chinese side pledged to build a new tennis stadium and increase the prize fund to $ 14 million. In addition, the association planned to fill the calendar with ten more tournaments in China this season, but all of them were canceled due to the pandemic.
In the recent past, global sport's relationship with China has already been complicated by political divisions.
In 2019, a scandal erupted when the general manager of the Houston Rockets basketball club, Daryl Morey, rallied in support of the protests in Hong Kong.
As a result, the National Basketball Association games were canceled in China, and the league suffered heavy losses.
But, according to Simon, the current situation with Peng Shuai is different from that and should not affect the cooperation of his organization with Chinese partners.
He noted that there should be no compromises or half-measures on the rape charges.
Simon admitted that, as a last resort, business relations with China would be terminated.