Sanctions against China ended

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has decided to end its sanctions against China due to concerns over the safety of retired Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai.

In the WTA statement, it was stated that negotiations with the Chinese government for 16 months to open the necessary investigation into Peng Shuai’s safety did not yield positive results, and the sanction imposed on China for not hosting organizations during this period was not enough for the change. Taking into account that this sanction, which runs from December 1, 2021, affects the players and the tournament calendar more, it has been decided to end it. China will begin to reorganize the WTA tournaments from September.

Peng Shuai, 37, a former world number one partner, shared in November 2021 that his country’s former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli forced him to have sex on Weibo, a social media platform in China. The images of Peng, whose message was deleted by the Chinese government and could not be heard for 3 weeks, were first broadcast on Twitter through the country’s state-run television and newspaper. The president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, held a video call with the Chinese tennis player. (AA)