Navratilova labels Aussie Open organizers ‘cowards’
Eighteen Grand Slam winner Martina Navratilova has accused the organizers of the Australian Open of being cowardly and of ‘capitulating’ to China over its ban on T-shirts in support of Peng Shuai.
Video footage posted on social media shows spectators in Melbourne Park being instructed to remove T-shirts and banners asking ‘Where’s Peng Shuai?’
The Chinese player disappeared for weeks after he accused former Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual misconduct in November.
An Australian Open fan is forced to remove a shirt expressing concern for tennis star Peng Shuai’s well-being
Security personnel at the Australian Open told a fan a ‘Where’s Peng Shuai?’ T-shirt
Peng Shuai , former world number one in doubles, is absent from the Grand Slam and her well-being is being feared after she alleged online in November that she was sexually assaulted by former Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli was ‘forced’.
She has since reappeared and gave a television interview at one point, but concerns for her well-being remain.
Spectators at the first Slam of the year wore the t-shirts to re-emphasize her plight, but were told to remove them by security personnel.
Tennis Australia said it would not allow “clothing, banners or signs that are commercial or political” but added that it continued to work with the WTA in seeking clarity on Peng’s whereabouts.
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But Navratilova, an activist on a range of social issues, told the Tennis Channel, “Sport has always been kind of at the forefront of social issues, pushing them forward, and we’re going backwards, I think.
Footage surfaced on Sunday of guards and police demanding spectators take off their ‘Where’s Peng Shuai’ T-shirts at the weekend grand slam
“We had the problem with Peng Shuai, and now there were fans at the tournament practicing Naomi Osaka, they weren’t even on the main field, they had ‘Where’s Peng Shuai’ on their T-shirts and they were told to hide it.
‘I think it’s really, really cowardly. This is not a political statement, this is a human rights statement.
“A kind of capitulation to this issue of really letting the Aussies and the Chinese dictate what they do at their own slam. I just think it’s really weak.’ Three of Navratilova’s 18 Grand Slams were won at the Aussie Open.