The Women’s Tennis Association is taking a stand against China. The cowards at other sports organizations should take note.
Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai has not been seen in public since she accused former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault. Chinese officials recently released an email allegedly from Peng that was clearly either coerced or outright faked by the Chinese government.
The WTA sees it that way as well. Steve Simon, chairman and CEO of the WTA, said he has a “hard time believing” Peng wrote that email. Simon said if Chinese officials can’t offer proof that Peng is safe, then “we’re definitely willing to pull our business and deal with all the complications that come with it.”
Simon said that “this is bigger than the business.” Unfortunately, the WTA currently stands alone in making this stand against China’s authoritarian regime.
The NBA remains in lockstep with the Chinese regime, with the sole exception of Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter. Along with commissioner Adam Silver, NBA players, coaches, and owners refuse to say a bad word about China, despite weighing in on any social justice cause in the United States.
Worse is the International Olympic Committee, which touts itself as nonpolitical despite forcing Taiwan to give up its identity to compete in IOC events. The IOC won’t allow Belarus to host its events because of political discrimination against athletes, but China will still be free to host the 2022 Winter Olympics and future IOC events. In fact, the IOC just decided to take China’s word that Peng is all right.
The IOC finally offers a comment about Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai. “We have seen the latest reports and are encouraged by assurances that she is safe. We are touch with the International Tennis Federation who continue to monitor the situation.”
— Stephen Wade (@StephenWadeAP) November 17, 2021
It should not have taken a case this grim for any sports organization to recognize that putting its events in China is a moral stain, but the WTA’s willingness to say it won’t just excuse Peng’s disappearance is an important step in the right direction. The same can’t be said for the cowards at the IOC, and it isn’t clear the NBA would have the bravery to stand by its own players in a situation like this.
Hopefully, the WTA has started the snowball rolling down the hill. Maybe Simon will show other wealthy sports officials they don’t need to sacrifice their own integrity to chase China’s money. More likely, this will be forgotten once tennis stars Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams stop tweeting about it, and the WTA will watch as other sports organizations continue groveling to the Chinese Communist Party.
