Drew Pavlou is behind a massive campaign to hand out free ‘Where is Peng Shuai?’ t-shirts at the Australian Open women’s final on Saturday, after Tennis Australia confiscated shirts and banners emblazoned with the message earlier this week.
A gofundme page set up to raise funds to print more T-shirts has already reached over $20,000, with Mr Pavlou and other activists now expanding their protest to offer yellow ribbons to attendees as well.
Mr Pavlou told The Herald Sun that the ribbons would allow the activists to spread their protest wider in case some fans did not want to wear the T-shirts.
In addition to this, Mr Pavlou has also written to Tennis Australia “to request they hold a minute silence for Peng Shuai before the Australian Open Women’s Final on Saturday.”
“If they agree to a minute’s silence we will drop all legal action over the original illegal attempt to silence protests,” Mr Pavlou said on Facebook.
At the time of writing, Mr Pavlou had not yet received a response from the organisation.
Concerns remain for Shuai, a Chinese player who disappeared after she made a sexual assault claim against a former high-ranking Communist Party official in November. Shuai has since been seen briefly in what was described as a “hostage” video.
On Monday, Tennis Australia released a statement saying Peng’s safety was its “primary concern.”
The statement went on to say the Australian Open had a “longstanding policy of not allowing banners, signs or clothing that are commercial or political.”
“On this occasion, the security guard was simply enforcing this policy and while we have reviewed this and are happy to welcome the patron back to Melbourne Park, the policy will continue to be applied in relation to any items that compromise the safety and comfort of AO fans,” the statement said.
Source: The Herald Sun.
