Australian Open reverses ban on ‘Where is Peng Shuai?’ T-shirts

After days of being accused of capitulating to China, TA boss Craig Tiley says activists can wear the T-shirts, as long as they’re peaceful.

A Peng Shuai banner at Melbourne Park. Picture: Twitter

Tennis Australia has backed down on its ban on “Where is Peng Shuai?” T-shirts amid escalating criticism over the controversial hardline decision.

After days of being accused of capitulating to China, Tennis Australia chief Craig Tiley on Tuesday said fans would be allowed to watch the Australian Open wearing the shirts which draw attention to the missing Chinese tennis star.

“If you come in and you have a T-shirt on and your T-shirt says ‘Where is Peng Shuai?’ and you have a personal view on it, that is fine,’’ he said.

“We are not going to do anything with that person. you have a personal view on it, that is fine.”

Mr Tiley said fans would still be banned from displaying signs in support of Peng Shuai.

The move came after a backlash over the Grand Slam’s controversial stance.

The about-turn followed video emerging on Sunday of security staff ordering spectators to remove shirts and a banner in support of the Chinese player at Melbourne Park.

It prompted tennis legend Martina Navratilova to brand the move “pathetic”. Peng, the former doubles world number one is absent from Melbourne and there are fears for her wellbeing after she alleged online in November that she had been “forced” into sex by a Chinese former vice-premier during a years-long on-and-off relationship.

There are fears for the safety and wellbeing of Peng Shuai. Picture: AFP.

Her allegation was quickly censored and the 36-year-old was not heard from for nearly three weeks, before reappearing in public in China. But there are still concerns as to whether she is free.

Tennis Australia, which organises the Australian Open, reiterated its longstanding policy on Monday of “not allowing banners, signs or clothing that are commercial or political”.

But with pressure mounting, Tiley said “Where is Peng Shuai?” T-shirts would be permitted as long as those wearing them were peaceful, adding that security would make case-by-case assessments.

“Yes, as long as they are not coming as a mob to be disruptive but are peaceful,” he told AFP on the sidelines of the Grand Slam.

“It’s all been a bit lost in translation from some people who are not here and don’t really know the full view.

“The situation in the last couple of days is that some people came with a banner on two large poles and we can’t allow that.

“If you are coming to watch the tennis that’s fine, but we can’t allow anyone to cause a disruption at the end of the day.” A GoFundMe page set up to raise money to print more T-shirts reached its AUD$10,000 goal within two days, with activists pledging to make them available to whoever wants to wear them.

Mr Pavlou welcomed the move as a victory for free speech, but said Tennis Australia only capitulated because of media scrutiny.

“We are not crediting Tennis Australia with any anything on this,” he said outside Melbourne Park.

“It’s not up to Craig Tilly and Tennis Australia whether we’re allowed to speak up for Peng Shuai.

“They really caved when you had government ministers condemning them, they really cave when they had lawyers saying there’s a potential human rights case here. So really, they’re just trying to cover their own backside.”

He said the most important outcome is that pressure willl continue to mount on authorities to reveal what happened to the Chinese tennis player.

“I’m very happy because this is the first time in months that Peng Shuai has been in the media in a big way. Unfortunately, her story dropped off a bit,” he said.

“What we’re doing here is we’re making sure (she) is not forgotten.”

With AFP