BEIJING / LOS ANGELES. Pioneering role: The women’s tournaments are canceled out of concern for Peng Shuai.
“I don’t see how I can ask our athletes with a clear conscience to compete there if Peng Shuai is not allowed to communicate freely and has apparently been put under pressure,” said WTA boss Steve Simon, explaining the decision that the international women’s tennis circuit should hold its tournaments withdraws from China and Hong Kong. The American demands from the Chinese authorities that the former world number one in doubles can testify freely and that their allegations are investigated accordingly.
The 35-year-old had accused China’s ex-vice premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault on social networks in early November. Her entry was deleted a little later and there was no trace of Peng for several weeks. Since then, athletes, politicians and human rights organizations have been concerned about their well-being.
A lot of money is at stake for the WTA
Ten Chinese tournaments and one in Hong Kong were planned for this year’s tour calendar, but all of them fell victim to the pandemic. This makes the People’s Republic one of the most important donors of the WTA, which runs the risk of losing hundreds of millions of euros in broadcasting rights and sponsorship income. The step taken by the tennis umbrella organization is all the more remarkable.
The withdrawal from China will initially apply to the coming year, said Simon, who admitted in the same breath, however, that he was willing to extend this beyond 2022 if necessary: ”We are prepared for it.”
As the first major player in world sport, the WTA stood against China and earned recognition from many sides. This in turn increases the pressure on other associations and organizers, above all on the men’s tennis tour ATP and the IOC.
Bach’s second call to Peng
Around 60 days before the start of the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, calls for IOC sanctions against China are getting louder. A suspension of China’s Olympic Committee is being called for in order to force the tennis player to leave the country. Instead, IOC President Thomas Bach was content last week to tell the world about her integrity after a video call with Peng. This is how Bach let himself be instrumentalized by China’s propaganda, was the accusation against the Germans. It was of little help when photos of him shaking hands with the accused Zhang turned up. The latter had played a leading role in Beijing’s application. Nonetheless, after the WTA withdrawal, Bach made another call to Peng on Wednesday, followed by another attempt at appeasement.
It is clear that broadcast rights and sponsorship income worth billions of euros are at stake for the IOC at the Winter Games. Bach received support in his “diplomatic” gait from the head of the World Athletics Federation, Sebastian Coe. It should be noted that their premium event series, the Diamond League, has been sponsored by the Wanda Group, a large Chinese corporation, since 2020.
Where and how sport follows the call of money
as “Soft Power” the influencing of political actors without using economic incentives or military threats. Top sport has always been a suitable lever for this. In the past few decades, among other things Qatar discovered for himself. Although only about the size of Upper Austria, the emirate will host the soccer World Cup in a year. With athletics, handball, swimming, Formula 1, MotoGP, golf or tennis, it is host to many core media sports. Accordingly, the Qatari oil and gas billions are also being pumped into top European football. Qatar Sports Investments is the owner of Paris St.-Germain, currently probably the most potent football club. The sports bosses are reluctant to discuss the fact that the unskilled workers in Qatar are exploited to the exclusion of human rights – often to the point of death.
So also with FC Bayern, the sponsor Qatar Airways brings in a double-digit million amount annually. When a group of its own fans wanted to vote on ending the deal, last week’s annual general meeting of Munich ended in screaming duels. The club bosses are fighting back, and by working together they could have a positive impact on the situation in Qatar. To play in a different league in terms of power politics China and Russia. While Chinese corporations have become indispensable as donors to various world associations, including FIFA, many European associations have Russian officials with state sponsors behind them.
It is well known that the IOC does not bite the hand that feeds it. Something similar can be said of its European offshoot, however: This is how the European Games have played out so far Azerbaijan and Belarus in two countries that are difficult to reconcile with fundamental European values.
Source: Nachrichten
