Sports International WTA tournaments will return to China after boycott over Peng Shuai allegations

The Women’s Tennis Association will resume tournaments in China this year having accepted an investigation into the sexual assault allegations made by former player Peng Shuai will not be carried out by the Chinese government.

Former doubles world number one Peng said in November 2021 she was “forced” into a sexual relationship with former China vice-premier Zhang Gaoli.

The WTA suspended its endof-year events in China and said it would not return until there was an investigation and it had proof of Peng’s safety.

After making the accusation in a social media post, Peng briefly disappeared from the public eye and she then later denied making the allegation. Zhang has not commented publicly on the allegation.

The WTA had called for the Chinese authorities to hold a “full, fair and transparent” investigation before any tournaments could go ahead.

“We’ve been in this for 16

Premier League clubs to ban gambling sponsorship on front of matchday shirts

Premier League clubs have collectively agreed to withdraw gambling sponsorship from the front of their matchday shirts by the end of the 2025-26 season.

However, after the deadline, clubs will still be able to continue featuring gambling brands in areas such as shirt sleeves and LED advertising.

And clubs will be allowed to secure new shirt-front deals before the deadline.

Eight top-flight clubs have gambling companies on the front of their shirts, worth an estimated £60m per year.

The announcement follows a consultation between the league, its clubs and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) as part of the government’s ongoing review of current gambling legislation. months and we are convinced that at this point our requests will not be met,” WTA chief executive Steve Simon told BBC Sport.

The decision will see the Premier League become the first sports league in the UK to take such a measure voluntarily in order to reduce gambling advertising.

The league is also working with other sports on the development of a new code for responsible gambling sponsorship.

The government was not expected to propose banning gambling sponsorship, with the plan being for the Premier League to agree voluntarily to a change.

Reforms to the Gambling Act 2005 were largely agreed by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson before he stepped down last July, leading to a delay in a gambling white paper being published.

“To continue with the same strategy doesn’t make sense and a different approach is needed. Hopefully, by returning, more progress can be made.”

The decision means the final two months of the WTA season will once again be dominated by China. Simon said the schedule will be “very similar” to the pre-pandemic year of 2019 when eight Chinese tournaments were staged in eight weeks from early September.

And crucially, the seasonending WTA Finals will resume its 10-year deal with the city of Shenzhen. Prize money this year, as it was in the first year of the contract in 2019, will be £11.2m.

Simon says the “great majority” of players are in support of a return to China.

And despite promising a hardline stance with the Chinese government, in which there would be no room for compromise, he says he has not considered resigning.

“No, I would never do that to an organisation. It’s about leading an organisation and listening to its members,” he said.

“We have athletes that come from over 80 nations, so there’s plenty of different opinions, but the majority of athletes were very supportive of a return back to the region. We certainly have some that were not, but the majority - the great majority - were in support and are in support of going back. There was strong support across the members, the [player] council and the board.”

Simon says this change of heart was not forced upon them by commercial realities, but accepts members would have “sacrificed a great deal” had the WTA Tour withdrawn from China for good.

The WTA’s boycott lasted just over 16 months, although no tournaments could have taken place in the country during that period anyway because of the Covid pandemic. (BBC)