2023-05-25 09:28:23
The president of the women’s circuit wanted to be reassuring about the fate of the former 14e world. The latter has been missing since revealing that she suffered “forced sex” from a Chinese leader almost two years ago.
Present Wednesday at the Strasbourg tournament, on the occasion of a general meeting of tournament directors of the women’s circuit, the boss of the WTA Steve Simon confided, in remarks reported by L’Équipe, to have news of the Chinese player Peng Shuai. “The WTA knows it’s safe and knows where it is“, he assured. As a reminder, the former 14th player in the world has not been on the circuit since she accused the former Chinese Vice-Premier, 40 years her senior, of having raped her in November 2021.
Steve Simon makes this announcement a month after having announced the return of the women’s professional circuit to China from next September, almost two years after his departure following the disappearance of Peng Shuai. A controversial return to which the president of the WTA returned.
«We never said we will never come back to China»
«We have taken a very tough stance in China, which very few companies or industries have done. It was the right decision to make and I would do it again today. But, nearly two years later, the progress we wanted to see in China has not led to a solution. So it was time to change the approach“, he justifies.
Steve Simon brings in passing a denial. “We never said that we will never come back to China… The main thing is how can we continue to defend the interests of Peng Shuai and how can we make meaningful changes there to resolve the problems ? We have to talk and be together to find solutions. And I hope the return of the WTA to China will give us the opportunity to do so.»
Finally, he assured that he had received guarantees regarding the return of the women’s circuit to China. “We have received confirmation that all our athletes and staff will be able to come in good conditions.»
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