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Martina Navratilova has voiced her anger after a few activists wearing ‘Where is Peng Shuai?’ T-shirts at Wimbledon accused security personnel of warning them against making any ’political' messaging.
According to The Telegraph, four men representing the Free Tibet human rights organization were stopped, searched and told not to approach other fans about Chinese player Peng Shuai. Security allegedly also stated that it would be a ‘problem’ if there were more of them on the premises.
Taking to Twitter to speak about the incident, the nine-time Wimbledon champion expressed her anger at the intimidation of peaceful human rights activists.
“Unreal- putting a muzzle on peaceful human rights activists…isn’t that what Russia does? Asking for a friend,” Navratilova tweeted.
Responding to a fan, the 65-year-old said that she did not expect this behavior in the United Kingdom.
"Yup. This is what Russia and China would do, right? But UK? Hmm," Navratilova said.
Shuai made headlines in November last year when she accused a high-ranking Chinese politician of sexual assault on social media site Weibo. The post was later deleted within a short period of time, following which the Chinese pro disappeared from the public eye.
The two-time doubles Slam champion then appeared in public and took back her original allegations, claiming that her words had been misinterpreted. She then announced her retirement from the sport in an interview with L'Equipe.
“Tennis has transformed my life, brought me joy, challenges and so much more. It is sometimes difficult to know how to say goodbye and to retire. Many people ask me this question. Even if I no longer participate in professional competitions, I will forever be a tennis player,” Shuai said.
"Considering my age (36), my multiple surgeries and the pandemic that forced me to quit for so long, I think it will be very difficult to regain my physical level," Peng said. "For about ten years the cartilage in my knee has required injections and I had two surgeries about seven years ago. In the past five years, I have had three more operations. It's a very serious injury," she added.
Martina Navratilova recovering from COVID-19
Many former Wimbledon winners took part in a poignant ceremony to commemorate the Center Court's 100th anniversary on Sunday, with Martina Navratilova among the few notable absentees.
She later took to Twitter to explain that her absence was due to her testing positive for COVID-19.
"I believe Serena [Williams] left town and I have Covid as I am looking at Centre court from my window," Navratilova tweeted.
Responding to a fan, Martina Navratilova stated that she caught the virus in England.
“Yup, got it here for sure… oh well. So wanted to be on that court with so many champions of our sport… #gutted,” she said.
