WTA Tour set to return to China in 2023 following suspension over Peng Shuai situation
The WTA Tour will return to China for the first time in 20 years in 2023 following the suspension of Peng Shuai.
This is due to the fact that the former Sports Illustrated model was found guilty of violating Chinese anti-graft laws.
The Chinese Tennis Federation will be re-introducing former and current WTA Tour player Peng Shuai back into the WTA Tour.
Back in June, Sports Illustrated uncovered a video in which Peng Shuai apparently violated Chinese anti-graft laws multiple times.
In the video, she allegedly was caught taking thousands of dollars in cash out of the country, including at tournaments, as well as being charged for hundreds of Chinese yuan in rent, electricity and cell phone bills.
After the fact reports emerged claiming she was also allegedly charged for Chinese tuition fees.
In reality, the only evidence to support the accusations were two text messages that she had sent, which were captured and published in the viral video.
Peng Shuai and her husband, businessman Wen Yunchao, admitted to taking money from the International Olympic Committee and then attempting to launder that money through the WTA Tour.
In the two text messages, she even says he has “bought my family a new car”.
Despite the admission of guilt, both the Chinese and WTA Tour have continued to deny that they received these funds.
“In a statement to the court, Wen said that the money was from an investment group known as the “Hong Kong Fund”, “not from Peng”.
Peng Shuai’s father, Dr. Jin Peng, the one who exposed the alleged bribery and fraud, said that Wen’s “actions were unprecedented and unacceptable”.
Wen also sent a text message to Peng saying, “If it was only me, I would have been fired from the WTA Tour within a day. I think that I deserve to retire. You are not the only person who understands my situation. If you don’t want to take any penalty, you have to take away my family,” he wrote.
The two players were then banned from the WTA Tour.
After the suspension was announced, the Chinese Tennis Federation announced that they would be bringing Peng back into the
