ITF refuses to suspend China over Peng allegations

International Tennis Federation president David Haggerty has said that his organisation will not boycott China over the Peng Shuai allegations as “we don’t want to punish a billion people”.

The WTA last week suspended all tournaments in China with CEO Steve Simon saying the move – which could cost the WTA hundreds of millions of dollars – had the “full support” of the tour’s directors.

The ATP has so far refused to follow the WTA’s example.

“As the governing body of tennis, we stand in support of all women’s rights,” Haggerty told the BBC.

“The allegations (of Peng) need to be looked into, and we will continue to work behind the scenes and directly to bring this to resolution.

“But you have to remember that the ITF is the governing body of the sport worldwide, and one of the things that we are responsible for is grassroots development.

“We don’t want to punish a billion people, so we will continue to run our junior events in the country and our senior events that are there for the time being.”

Peng alleged that former Chinese vice-premier Zhang Gaoli, now in his 70s, forced her into sex during a years-long on-and-off relationship.