Peng Shuai: ITF won’t ‘punish a billion people’ by suspending Chinese events

The WTA last week suspended all events in China amid ongoing concerns for the wellbeing of the former world doubles number one

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) don’t plan to suspend events in China despite ongoing concern for player Peng Shuai.

The former doubles world number one made a sexual assault accusation against former Chinese vice-premier Zhang Gaoli then disappeared from public view last month, prompting the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) to suspend its lucrative tournaments in China.

ITF president David Haggerty said the sport’s governing body, which oversees the Billie Jean King Cup and Davis Cup along with a number of lower-level tournaments, did not have plans to follow suit.

“We don’t want to punish a billion people, so we will continue to run our junior events in the country and our senior events that are there for the time being,” Haggerty told the BBC.

He added that the group would “work behind to scenes” to help resolve the matter.

The WTA’s decision to pull its tournaments earned the support of current and former players including WTA founder Billie Jean King but enraged Beijing, with foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin saying China “opposes the politicization of sports.”

The IOC have held two video calls with Peng and are set to hold a “personal meeting” in January.