Melbourne – Activists have made a statement of support for Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai at the Australian Open.
On the day of the women’s final, they said they had 1000 T-shirts with the words “Where’s Peng Shuai?” on them, which they handed out to spectators outside the entrances. The organisers of the Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne had initially banned political messages on the site, but allowed the T-shirts after criticism.
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 tennis organisation WTA had always taken a clear position, demanded clarification and withdrew from China with the tournaments. In public appearances, Peng later denied having made any accusations.