WTA chairman Simon announces retirement. He oversaw player pay increase, took heat for Saudi stance
FILE - WTA Chairman and CEO Steve Simon sits for an interview during the WTA Finals tennis tournament in Fort Worth, Texas, on Nov. 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Tim Heitman, File)
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — WTA Tour chairman Steve Simon has informed the organization's board of directors he plans to retire in December, the women's tennis circuit announced Thursday.
Simon was tournament director of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, for 13 years before he was hired as chief executive of the WTA in 2015.
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Under his watch, the women's circuit committed to a $400 million increase in player compensation over the next 10 years, created a foundation to elevate its social impact in communities around the world and entered a partnership with CVC Capital Partners to accelerate commercial growth and drive reinvestment in the sport.
Last year, the WTA restructured its leadership, with NBA G League executive Portia Archer taking over as CEO and Simon focusing on strategic development and governance as chairman.
Simon has been a target for criticism. Last year, he and the tour were sued by Ukrainian tennis player Lesia Tsurenko because of the way it has handled Russian and Belarusian players amid the war in Ukraine.
In 2023, Hall of Famers Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova questioned how he could sign off on a lucrative three-year deal with Saudi Arabia to host the WTA Finals despite questions about LGBTQ+ and women's rights there.
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Simon also led a WTA boycott of China from 2021-23 over concerns about Grand Slam doubles champion Peng Shuai's well-being. Peng dropped out of public view after she accused a Chinese government official of sexual assault. China was allowed to host tournaments again after the WTA received assurances from people close to Peng that she was safe and living with her family in Beijing.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
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The communique of the 2024 summit in Washington named Beijing as a "decisive enabler" of Russia's war against Ukraine. Last year's gathering also included a declaration that Ukraine's path to NATO is "irreversible" and promised more than $40 billion in additional military aid. This year, the document will solely focus on defense spending, as U.S. President Donald Trump pushes NATO partners to hike the military expenditure benchmark from 2% to 5% of GDP. The final version of the statement can still change, Bloomberg reported. The brevity of the communique and the summit itself, as well as the decreased focus on Ukraine, stems from the effort to avoid conflict between Trump and European allies. In a sharp break from former U.S. President Joe Biden, the Trump administration has not approved any new military aid packages to Ukraine and signaled its intent to reduce assistance for Kyiv in the next year's budget. The U.S. president initially vowed to broker a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow but became increasingly less engaged in the process as the negotiations stalled and Russia only intensified its attacks against Ukraine. According to Bloomberg, NATO allies will pledge to allocate at least 3.5% of GDP to defense needs and 1.5% to protecting infrastructure and civil preparedness by 2032. Member states will also consider counting their contributions to Ukraine as part of the new defense spending targets, the news outlet reported. The summit was preceded by rumors that President Volodymyr Zelensky would not be invited to participate for the first time due to U.S. opposition. Later, the speculations were dispelled after the Dutch media reported that NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte had invited the Ukrainian leader to attend. Ukraine War Latest is put together by the Kyiv Independent news desk team, who keep you informed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you value our work and want to ensure we have the resources to continue, join the Kyiv Independent community. We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
