© Archyde.com/LOREN ELLIOTT
FILE PHOTO: General view of people at Melbourne Park in Melbourne
Por Sudipto Ganguly
MELBOURNE, Jan 25 (Archyde.com) – Fans are free to wear T-shirts with the slogan “Where’s Peng Shuai?” at the Australian Open, but they should not be “disruptive”, Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley said on Tuesday, amid criticism of Grand Slam organizers’ earlier stance on the issue.
In response to a video posted on social media on Saturday showing security officers ordering fans to remove their slogan shirts, the governing body said the Melbourne Park tournament does not allow political statements.
Martina Navratilova called that reaction “cowardly” and said the Australian Open organizers were caving in to China and putting sponsor money before human rights concerns.
“Unfortunately, I think there’s a lot of miscommunication and misunderstanding because it’s not a one-line response,” Tiley told Archyde.com by telephone.
“Someone wearing a T-shirt saying something is not going to have any impact on security. But when they start getting together as a group, like a mob, and they start being disruptive, in any way, shape or form, that’s a different thing.”
“If they come to do what everyone else is doing – enjoy tennis – and if they wear a shirt that says, ‘Where is Peng Shuai?’
Peng’s situation became a matter of concern in November, when the former women’s doubles number one alleged that a former Chinese Vice Premier, Zhang Gaoli, had sexually assaulted her in the past. After that publication, he was absent from public view for nearly three weeks.
Last month, Peng said she had never accused anyone of sexually assaulting her, and that a social media post she had made had been misrepresented.
Zhang has not commented on the matter.
In Beijing, responding to a question regarding the new jersey rule, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said efforts to politicize the sport would fail.
“The politicization of sports will not succeed and will not get the support of the majority of people, including athletes, in the international community,” Zhao Lijian told a daily briefing.
On Monday, Peng supporters in Australia said they planned to hand out 1,000 T-shirts bearing the slogan “Where’s Peng Shuai?” in Melbourne Park this week following raising more than AU$10,000 on a GoFundMe page.
(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly; additional reporting by Martin Pollard in Shanghai; Editing in Spanish by Ricardo Figueroa)