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Peng Shuai, a tennis player who ranked number one in the doubles ranking in tennis, offered an interview to the French media ‘L’Equipe’ in which, among other things, he denied having denounced someone for sexual assault. On the other hand, the AFP news agency assures that the player had dinner with the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, in Beijing.
The Chinese media do not talk about the tennis player and have focused on the benefits of the Winter Olympics that take place in Beijing. However, for the international community the status of the player remains important.
Peng Shuai made headlines in November 2021 when, for a few hours, she posted a complaint on Chinese social media against former Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli for having sexually assaulted her in the past.
Peng Shuai : « Ma vie est comme elle doit être : rien de spécial »
La joueuse de tennis s’expresses pour la première fois dans un média international et indépendant depuis sa réapparition publique et le tourbillon que acompagné son message du 2 novembre. https://t.co/0mPXJBcY3s pic.twitter.com/rZbRlZxN8a
— L’EQUIPE (@lequipe) February 6, 2022
However, the publication was deleted from the Chinese internet and the 36-year-old tennis player remained silent for several weeks, a situation that caused concern in governments, the international community and human rights groups who wondered about the whereabouts of the player.
However, almost three months after that event, in his first experience with independent and international media, Peng denied the complaint, thus opening a new debate on possible pressure from the Government of his country.
“Sexual assault? I never said someone had sexually assaulted me,” Shuai told reporters from the French daily L’Équipe.
The French medium was able to talk to the player during the celebration of the Winter Olympics. Shuai received the journalists in a suite on the 16th floor of the hotel where the Chinese Olympic Committee is based.
During the meeting, Peng referred to the days of anguish that many people in the world lived through during his silence and that provoked reactions from a series of government spokesmen, human rights groups and players on the professional tennis circuit.
“I never disappeared, everyone could see me (…) I thought there would be no such concern,” said the player.
He stated that sports should not be mixed with politics and regretted that his publication was distorted. “Feelings, sport and politics are three very different things (…) Sport should not be politicized because when it is, most of the time it is equivalent to turning one’s back on the Olympic spirit and goes against the will of the world of sports and athletes”, he added.
Media reports Peng Shuai dined with IOC president
After his period of silence, Peng held talks with the president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, an organization that supported him at all times and was questioned for not offering statements about the player’s alleged complaint.
During the conversation with ‘L’Equipe’, Peng revealed that he had a dinner with Bach, who days ago had promised a meeting with the player during his stay in China as part of the Olympic Games.
“He asked me if I planned to return to the competition, what were my projects, what I anticipate, etc,” said Peng.
The player, for the moment, remains away from the professional tennis circuit and has given no signs of a possible return. However, despite the position taken by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) that banned China from its competition program, the player points out that her removal from the courts is due to an injury to the knee.
“When I used to travel abroad, it was to compete in tournaments or to receive treatment… Before the pandemic I traveled to Munich every two or three months to receive treatment. In the pandemic those plans are almost impossible,” he said.
Peng, at the time, sent an email to Steve Simon, president of the WTA, and for this reason she was accused of being pressured. During her conversation with the French media, she stated that said communication was written by her.
For now, the tennis player will continue to watch the Winter Olympics while thanking Bach for the dinner and the invitation to the IOC Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, after the pandemic.
On the other hand, the AP news agency, quoted by the Infobae publication, maintains that it is possible that she will appear accompanied by Bach at a medal ceremony during the Winter Games.
With Reuters, AFP, AP and L’Equipe