Where is Peng Shuai? This question will not only be asked by the tennis world at the end of 2021.
The Chinese tennis player had accused a high-ranking official of the Communist Party of forcing her to have sex on the social network Weibo. Shortly thereafter, the post disappears from the Internet, as does Peng Shuai from the public.
So far, there has been no clarification of their allegations. To this day it is unclear how free she can live. In protest at the handling of the Chinese tennis player, the WTA announced in December 2021 that it would no longer hold tournaments in China. Now the WTA is returning to China.
“It’s very disappointing that the WTA is giving in. It also shows that the WTA was, I think, on its own. If it had been about fairness and equality and solidarity, other world associations would also have joined the WTA,” says Wenzel Michalski, Germany director at Human Rights Watch, assessing the WTA’s approach.
money before human rights
Human rights organizations had actually praised the WTA for their courage in boycotting and putting pressure on China as a venue and had great respect for the association, especially because of the financial consequences. But:
“We see again and again in organized world sport that money actually comes before human rights.”
The major sporting events of recent years have also shown that: the Olympic Games in Beijing, the soccer World Cup in Qatar, and soon the club championships in Saudi Arabia, Michalski lists.
In fact, large sports organizations such as the IOC and FIFA are also subject to the UN guidelines on business and human rights – which means that no human rights violations may take place in their business environment. Actually.
“We see again and again how the greats of world sport, such as IOC boss Bach or FIFA boss Infantino, snuggle up to the rulers, dictators, authoritarian leaders of states. It’s really disgusting,” Michalski said.
Pressure on sports organizations is increasing
Nevertheless, it is positive that the pressure on sports organizations from the media, the public and also from politics is increasing. There has been a lot of criticism of FIFA and the IOC from Germany in particular, but no consequences have been drawn so far:
“You’re not ready to say: Okay, we’re not going to do that with you. That would be a giant step, that would ultimately be the logical consequence,” explains Michalski.
Protest is at least the first step: “But if you look at how much sport is used as a means of propaganda for states that trample on their own people and otherwise cause mischief in the world. We’re seeing this in Russia now: attacking another country, committing war crimes against the civilian population there. Or China’s saber-rattling against Taiwan. There’s really nothing left to do but to say: ‘That’s the end of it, no further now.'”
Sport must question gigantism
Boycotting sporting events in autocratic countries would also mean that sporting organizations would have to forego money.
“Then sport has to see where it gets new sources of income, if it actually needs that much money at all. That’s always the question. We now have the fact that the last major sporting events have all taken place in autocracies, where a lot of money is poured in because you can see the propagandistic added value there.”
In democratic states there is more criticism of the gigantism of sporting events, according to Michalski: “So the question is: Will sport continue to afford to appear as gigantic as it is doing right now?”