Should the LPGA continue to stage events in China?
It’s a question all players and tournament officials should be wrestling with given the plight of Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, who after posting an allegation of sexual assault against a top government official, disappeared from public view.
Last week Steve Simon, Women’s Tennis Association chairman and CEO, announced in a breathtakingly strong show of leadership the immediate suspension of all WTA tournaments in China, including Hong Kong, until Shuai is allowed to communicate freely and her allegation of sexual abuse is investigated in a full, fair and transparent manner.
The LPGA has only one event in China on its 2022 schedule, the Buick LPGA Shanghai, and it’s slated for October.
The tour, of course, has an obligation to the safety of its Chinese members. But it also has an obligation to consider the ramifications of doing business in certain parts of the world for the organization as a whole.
New commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan must answer this looming and most pressing question: What moral line is the tour unwilling to cross when it comes to partnerships?
When asked if the tour has considered standing in solidarity with the WTA by suspending business with China, an LPGA spokesperson told Golfweek that the tour is concerned about Shuai’s well-being and safety and has reached out to partners in the region. They will continue to actively monitor developments on the matter.
Last year, Amy Olson raised concerns with LPGA leadership about competing in China, saying that she didn’t feel it was safe there for players. Olson said too many have turned a blind eye to the mass imprisonment and persecution of the Uyghurs by the Chinese government in the Xinjiang province. What’s more, Olson continued, Chinese officials weren’t transparent with what was happening in their hospitals and within their borders during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As an organization that stands up for women’s rights and has fought day in and day out for those rights,’’ said Olson, “what China has done flies directly in the face of everything we stand for.”
Like Olson, Angela Stanford has made a personal commitment not to compete in China or Saudi Arabia due to human rights concerns.
Three years ago, a U.N. human rights panel reported that over 1 million Muslims were being held in secret internment camps. That number has since risen, with China expert Adrian Zenz telling NPR that forced abortions and mandatory birth control are routine in the labor camps.
In January, former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo determined that China’s tortuous actions against the Muslim Uyghurs and other minority groups constitute genocide and crimes against humanity.
On Monday, the Biden Administration said it will not send a U.S. delegation to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics as part of a diplomatic boycott in protest of China’s ongoing human rights abuses. U.S. athletes will still compete in the Games.
“I think we’re in a position now that we have an opportunity to say, we don’t have to play in China,” said Stanford, who implores those on the LPGA now to be mindful of the next generation.
“Do you want those girls going to Saudi Arabia?”
Saudi women watch golfers compete in the Saudi Ladies International on November 15, 2020. Photo by Amer Hilabi/AFP via Getty Images
Stacy Lewis, who like Olson serves as a Player Director on the LPGA Board, believes this is a conversation the tour needs to have. Lewis said she won’t compete in Saudi Arabia, noting that money used to fund the Ladies European Tour events comes directly from the government itself.
“It’s about women’s rights and silencing women,” she said, “and that’s not OK.”
In recent years, the laws in Saudi Arabia have changed to allow women to travel abroad and drive a car. However, the male guardian system that’s still in place requires a male relative’s permission to marry, divorce or leave a shelter or prison.
Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan includes the use of sports diplomacy to enhance the country’s image, explained Adam Coogle, Human Rights Watch Deputy Director, Middle East and North Africa Division. Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that investigates and reports on abuses happening worldwide.
“Frankly, too many sports leagues are ready to take the money,” said Coogle, “even though they are wittingly or unwittingly, participating in what we view as whitewashing serious human rights concerns.”
The hope, of course, is that sports bodies develop rules within their organization. That is to say, surely there’s a line they should be unwillingly cross.
Days before F1 driver Lewis Hamilton won on Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Corniche Circuit, he told reporters that he’s not comfortable racing in Saudi Arabia.
“Do I feel comfortable here? I wouldn’t say I do,” Hamilton said.
“But this was not my choice. Our sport has chosen to be here and whether it’s fair or not, I think that, while we’re here, it’s still important to do some work on raising awareness.”
While the PGA Tour works to fend off a Saudi-backed takeover, consider how far the Saudi government is already entrenched in the LET with five events that feature purses three times higher than most of the events around Europe.
If an LET member didn’t want to compete for Saudi money, she might have to consider finding another job. It’s not difficult to imagine an LPGA player having to one day do the same.
Stanford said she has asked herself hypothetically — if she had to play an event in China to keep her card, would she do it?
“I wouldn’t,” she concluded.
Years ago, when Renee Powell was competing on the LPGA in Idaho, a reservation she’d made mysteriously couldn’t be found at the player hotel. Kathy Whitworth heard about the trouble Powell was having and came to the front desk declaring, “Either we all stay, or we all walk.”
Powell was the second Black player to ever compete on the LPGA.
“How much pride I have knowing those women stuck together,” said Stanford, “and said ‘No, we’re all the same.’ ”
Choices that are made today impact the future.
Olson wants young girls in China to live out their dreams on the LPGA. Ultimately, she wants the LPGA’s efforts to further women’s rights in other countries and provide opportunities.
The LPGA’s presence in China has inspired young girls to take up the game and envision a career traveling the world. The same could be said for any country the tour has visited.
And yet, there are times when it’s necessary to take a stand and sacrifice those opportunities in the short term in order to create long-term change.
Ultimately each player must ask herself, where is the moral line? And then pressure the tour to hold that line.
To that end, what the LPGA says now publicly can’t be a political stunt or knee-jerk reaction, insists Olson. She instead would like to see a robust conversation about the tour’s values continue behind closed doors.
“My hope is that this generates a lot of discussion,” said Olson, “for us to talk about who we are, what we stand for and what we bring to the world. And that we are able to stay consistent with that in the long term.”
There’s simply too much at stake.