In a video call with the IOC boss, the missing tennis player appeared to be doing well and thanked for the sympathy for her disappearance. Still, there are still doubts – and criticism of the IOC.
Peng Shuai, the currently missing Grand Slam winner in doubles, made a video call with IOC President Thomas Bach on Sunday. The rings organization also distributed a corresponding photo.
In the 30-minute conversation, which was also attended by the Chair of the Athletes’ Commission of the International Olympic Committee, Emma Terho, and the Chinese IOC member Li Lingwei, Peng thanked them for their concern for their well-being. According to the IOC, the 35-year-old said that she was fine, but asked to be respected for her privacy. Peng also assured her that she would continue to be involved in the tennis sport she loves. But: the circumstances of their temporary disappearance remain nebulous. And that leaves questions.
“I was relieved to see that Peng Shuai was fine, which was our main concern. She seemed relaxed. I offered to support her and keep in touch with her at all times, which she obviously appreciated “Terho was quoted in the IOC announcement. At the end of the call, Bach invited Peng to dinner as soon as he arrived in Beijing in January. The 35-year-old was happy to accept this.
Sharp criticism of the IOC’s approach
The sports association Global Athlete, on the other hand, sharply criticized the conduct of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and renewed the demand for sanctions against the upcoming Olympic host China.
The Rings Organization’s press release about Bach’s video call with Peng Shuai made “the IOC complicit in the malicious propaganda of the Chinese authorities that do not care about basic human rights and justice,” said Global Athlete in a statement.
It “pretended that Peng had never made allegations of sexual assault and that she had not disappeared for more than two weeks”. Bach and the IOC Athletes Commission showed “a hideous indifference to sexual violence and the well-being of women athletes”.
As a result, Global Athlete renewed its request on Friday that the IOC “suspend the Chinese Olympic Committee immediately until Peng Shuai can safely leave China and a full and transparent investigation into their allegations of sexual assault is conducted.”
The Winter Olympics begin in China’s capital on February 4th. The situation was tense for the IOC and the host country even before the Peng Shuai case. The Uyghur question, Hong Kong and the Tibet conflict are recurring topics in the international media. Most recently, US President Joe Biden threatened a diplomatic boycott – an affront for the Beijing regime.
WTA threatened to withdraw tournaments
Meanwhile, the fate of Peng Shuai preoccupied politicians, athletes and other celebrities around the world. The tennis organization WTA threatened to withdraw tournaments from the Middle Kingdom. On Sunday several signs of life were made public.
The editor-in-chief of the state newspaper Global Times posted a short video on Twitter in which the 35-year-old was allegedly seen opening a youth tennis tournament in a Beijing stadium. In the clip, Peng wears a navy blue sports jacket and white sweatpants and stands in the midst of a group of guests whose names are called out to great applause.
A state newspaper reporter tweeted another video allegedly showing Peng signing autographs for children in the same stadium and then posing for photos. A recording had previously appeared that was supposed to show the former top 20 player with friends in a restaurant in Beijing.
WTA boss: video from restaurant “insufficient”
It is clear that the video from the restaurant “was recorded on Saturday Beijing time,” wrote Global Times editor Hu Xijin. In fact, during the conversation, a man says, “Tomorrow is November 20th” – but is immediately corrected by a woman that it will be November 21st – and thus Sunday. The entertainment, apparently filmed on a smartphone, appears staged, and Peng makes a relaxed impression on the recordings.
WTA boss Steve Simon described the video from the restaurant as “not sufficient”. The head of the women’s tennis organization called it “positive” that Peng could be seen. However, it is still unclear whether the player is “free and able to make decisions and take measures independently and without coercion or outside interference.” This question remains unanswered even after the brief IOC press release.
Peng Shuai wrote on the Twitter-like medium Weibo earlier this month that he had been sexually abused by former Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Zhang Gaoli, 75. The entry in the social medium as well as numerous Internet entries about Peng were deleted, of which there was no trace afterwards. The calls for it should not fall silent even after the videos and messages that have now emerged.
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