Australian Open 2022: Tournament changes rules to allow ‘Where’s Peng Shuai?’ Shirts

Fans at the Australian Open with costumes and logos on Friday Questioning the whereabouts of Chinese tennis star Peng ShuaiA group of people in the stands had a banner that read: “Where’s Peng Shuai?” Wearing a shirt with a picture of Peng on the front that said “Wanted”.

Event officials confiscated the items, but not before photos and videos of the shirts and banners were shared online. However, as of Tuesday, tournament organisers had changed the rules and said they would allow the jerseys, according to Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley.

Tilly told The Associated Press Fans are now allowed to wear these jerseys, provided they don’t gather in groups. Tilly said the safety of others at the game was what prevented large groups of people from wearing costumes.

“If they want to do that, that’s fine [but] If someone comes to the scene and makes it clear that they want to disrupt the comfort and safety of our fans, they are not welcome,” he said.

Security personnel initially said they had to confiscate the clothing because “you shouldn’t bring any political statements” into the venue. The person who filmed the video then asked if the “release of Shuai Peng” was political, according to Tennis Australia, and the security responded by shaking his head and answering “yes”.

After the video was posted, many were unhappy with the Australian Open’s policy. Tennis legend Martina Navratilova said it was “sad” to force fans to take off their jerseys.

She disappeared on Nov. 2 after Peng posted on her social media page that former Chinese Communist Party leader Zhang Gaoli sexually assaulted her. The posts were quickly deleted by the Chinese government, She has since returned to the public eye and said she never made such a claim.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Dick Pound said after a video call with IOC President Thomas Bach that the organization agreed that Peng was “fine”, despite other concerns that Peng was not in public.

Still, many called for “verifiable” evidence that she could keep her safe.