Melbourne – Tennis idol Martina Navratilova has criticised the organisers of the Australian Open for their behaviour during protests in the case of Chinese player Peng Shuai.
“It’s pretty pathetic,” the former world number one from the USA shared. The WTA is pretty much on its own. The organisers had earlier banned spectators from wearing T-shirts in support of Peng Shuai.
Peng Shuai, the former world number one in doubles, had posted allegations of sexual assault by a top Chinese politician on the Weibo social network in early November. The post was deleted soon after. Since then, athletes, politicians and human rights activists have expressed concern for her well-being. The women’s organisation WTA had always taken a clear position, demanded clarification and withdrew from China with the tournaments.
The organisers of the Australian Open rejected the criticism of their behaviour and explained that their ticket conditions do not allow political messages. They said the safety of Peng Shuai was of great concern to them.