Tennis Australia has come under fire recently for banning Australian Open crowd goers from wearing 'Where is Peng Shuai?' t-shirts.
The Chinese tennis player was missing for three weeks in November after she came out with sexual assault allegations over former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli.
In a strange set of circumstances - Shuai then took part in a video call with the IOC after her disappearance to declare she was safe and well and wasn't aware of any interference from the Chinese State.
Her comments on the sexual assault were very publicly posted on the social media site 'Weibo' at the time. The tennis player has since claimed they were taken out of context.
People haven't been convinced that Shuai wasn't interfered with in November due to the repressive nature of China's government and curtailing freedom of speech.
On this day in 2009:
Peng Shuai beat Sesil Karatantcheva, 6-4, 6-0 in the second round at the Australian Open to earn a third-round meeting with Serena Williams.
The AO doesn't want you to talk about it or wear it on your shirt, but we must not forget about her. #FreePengShuai pic.twitter.com/jDLuJBpxBy— Jeff Sackmann (@tennisabstract) January 22, 2022
So much so that the 'Where is Peng Shuai?' t-shirts were brandished around Melbourne Park at this year's Australian Open but to little avail.
Police and security officials have been asking fans to remove the merchandise with Tennis Australia defending their actions.
"Under our ticket conditions of entry we don't allow clothing, banners, or signs that are commercial or political," the organisation said in a statement.
Peng Shuai Criticism
Tennis goers are unhappy that they are being silenced on the issue. A Go Fund Me page was set upstars to raise money to print more 'Where is Peng Shuai?' t-shirts last week.
They've raised over €9,000 so far from the campaign. The description reads, "Any victim and survivor deserves to be heard and deserves to have justice."
Many tennis players past and present have come out in support of the movement and in criticism of Tennis Australia for trying to keep their Chinese sponsors happy.
Tennis Australia is standing by its decision to order an Australian Open spectator to remove a shirt that featured a message supporting Peng Shuai amid ongoing concerns for the Chinese tennis star’s welfare.
Where are all you boycotters now?pic.twitter.com/WlbAD5iBQH— Avi Yemini (@OzraeliAvi) January 23, 2022
One of those is 18-time Grand Slam winner Martina Navratilova. She said she finds the whole thing "really, really cowardly" and thinks there's human rights issues at stake.
"I think they are wrong on this," Navratilova said in a U.S. TV appearance. "This is not a political statement, this is a human rights statement."
Nicolas Mahut, who still plays on the ATP tour, tweeted saying, "What lack of courage! What if you did not have Chinese sponsors."
Supporters of Peng Shuai are planning on handing out the 'Where is Peng Shuai?' t-shirts this week at the Australian Open as the draw reaches the quarter-final stage.
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