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"This is a brave and commendable move by the WTA, but I doubt that many other sports bodies or businesses will follow in the WTA's footsteps," Wong wrote in an email to the AP. Audrye Wong, a political scientist who researches Chinese politics at the University of Southern California, is skeptical that Simon's group will have company. The WTA is the first sports body to publicly and directly challenge China's authoritarian government, which is a source of billions in income across sports based elsewhere, such as the Olympics, tennis, the NBA and golf.ĭr. But as far as what they need to do for their business interests and for their reasons, they need to make their own decisions. "Now I will encourage everybody that has supported us to date - and those that haven't - to continue speaking out and talk about this very important topic. So as the leading women's sports organization, and having a direct effect on this, we're focused on that. "And I think it goes beyond that, into obviously something very, very sensitive on a worldwide basis for women, in general. This is a WTA decision that affected the WTA athlete and our core principles," Simon said in a video call with The Associated Press on Wednesday.

"I'm not looking to send a message to any other sport bodies or influence their decisions or evaluate their decisions. WTA President and CEO Steve Simon did not set out to lead the way for how sports should confront China when he announced that the women's tennis tour would suspend tournaments there because of concerns about former Grand Slam doubles champion Peng Shuai's well-being.Īnd based on initial reactions Thursday to the WTA's groundbreaking stance, including from the International Olympic Committee - which is set to open the Beijing Winter Games in two months - along with the men's tennis tour and International Tennis Federation, no one seems too eager to follow suit with the sorts of actions that would come with a real financial hit.