The controversy over player Peng Shuai of China being replaced by a referee who favored her countrywoman in a women’s tennis match at this week’s Olympics.
China’s Olympic Committee apologized to Peng Thursday, but the tournament’s top official said she could be kicked out of the Olympics for the scandal.
International Tennis Federation President David Haggerty said he found out Tuesday night that an unspecified ‘outside the rulebook violation’ took place during Sunday’s tournament semifinals, but was kept quiet until after the final.
Peng won the title over Romania’s Monica Niculescu.
“Once an ITF spokesperson informed me of it, I wanted to say something. After all, this player has been through a lot in her life, and I believe that all fair play is important, even if it hurts someone or some team,” Haggerty said, according to Reuters.
ABC News reports:
Peng’s teammate, Li Haotong, said she was “shocked” by the ruling and called for an independent investigation.
“This is not only about Peng Shuai’s performance but even about the integrity of the tennis game,” Li said through an interpreter. “The International Tennis Federation, the IOC, the WTA should take this very seriously, and it is our opinion that Peng Shuai should be reinstated to the Olympics.”
Haggerty said the ITF had looked into a “myriad of options, from diplomatic channels to talking with the Chinese embassy,” but that none would work.
“There is one, and it’s the only reasonable solution, and that is this needs to be resolved by both parties,” Haggerty said, according to the Associated Press. “When in doubt, choose the fair solution.”
Fox News’ Elizabeth MacDonald reported on “Fox & Friends” that it has long been the tradition for an underdog to replace a team captain after the semi-finals on the basis of the decision of the winning team.
“They were down by two games to one, and they’re the world No. 1 team. Now they were down, and they wanted the 16th seed and the underdog to take over the captaincy of the team to make sure that the Chinese team had something to prove and that the whole thing was fixed,” MacDonald said.
She pointed out that if that were the case, the decision should have been made by a jury or review board consisting of professional judges.
“Now, think of this: If the Chinese doubles team is trying to fix their own tournament, it’s amazing if they would have a jury over them,” MacDonald said.