The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) announced this Wednesday “the suspension of tournaments in China” Due to the mysterious disappearance of that country’s player, Peng Shuai.
But, Where is the 35-year-old Chinese tennis player, who disappeared in November after accusing a powerful former Chinese communist leader of sexual abuse? This is all that is known of the case.
November 2, 2021, Peng Shuai denounces sexual abuse
La tenista de élite Peng Shuai acusó a Zhang Gaoli, a former communist deputy prime minister and one of the most powerful men in China between 2013 and 2018, to force her to have sex with him, and then to have an affair during years, through a message on the Weibo social network.
In the message, Peng says she was “very scared”, and he said: “at first I rejected him and kept crying.”
In addition, the text assures that they had a relationship until recently the politician stopped contacting her. The tennis player allegedly claims to have no proof of thisBut he claims that Zhang’s wife knew about it.
November 4, 2021, Peng Shuai and his message disappear
The explosive Accusation of the former world number one in doubles and winner of Roland Garros in that category, it was quickly removed by internet censors in China, who blocked any reference to the message attributed to Shuai.
The censorship also blocked any mention of the matter and Internet search engines in China do not show results when entering the names together. Peng and Zhang.
However, the Weibo data suggested that Peng She posted something on her account on Tuesday and the message was viewed more than 100,000 times and the screenshots taken by internet users made the athlete’s message visible.
November 14, 2021, the reactions to the disappearance of Shuai begin
Approximately, 10 days after posting the message of accusation the tennis player disappeared, which motivated the tennis community to show their concern on social networks, about his whereabouts, with the hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai (#DóndeEstáPengShuai).
Tennis players like the former American tennis champion Chris Evert and the french Alizé Horn they denounced the disappearance of the Chinese tennis player, underlining the silence of the International Federation (ITF) and the WTA.
After this, the director of the WTA, Steve Simon, asked the same November 14 that the tennis player Peng Shuai’s complaints were “investigated in a complete, fair, transparent and uncensored manner.”
November 15bre 2021, Novak Djokovic worried about Peng Shuai
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) said it was closely monitoring the situation of the Chinese player.
Sports figures also spoke about it, Novak Djokovic said he was “shocked.”
Parallel to the investigation requested by the WTA on November 14, its president, Steve Simon, told the newspaper The New York Times than the WTA “He had received confirmation from various sources, including the Chinese federation, that it is safe and without physical threats.”
However, Simon added that No one linked to the WTA, be it a manager or a player, had been able to contact the tennis player directly.
November 16, 2021, the tennis family pronounces
Twelve days after disappearance of the missing Chinese tennis player, the former world number 1 tennis player Naomi Osaka said she was “shocked by the situation.”
“Censorship is never acceptable wherever it comes from. I hope that Peng Shuai and your family are well and in good health ”, The Japanese player posted on Twitter, along with a photograph of the missing woman.
December 18, 2021, the mysterious email
Two weeks after Peng Shuai’s disappearance, An email, in which the athlete allegedly denies having suffered sexual violence, was published in Chinese state media, however, the executive director of the WTA said he was concerned for the safety of Shuai and doubted the veracity of the mail.
The content of the assumption email sent by the missing Chinese tennis player raised doubts about its authenticity, and is that some Twitter users highlighted that in the message broadcast by Chinese state television a cursor was seen, something that does not usually happen when it comes to a screenshot.
The WTA official also pointed out that he had tried to contact her repeatedly and through different channels, without success, so she asked for “independent and corroborable proof” that she is okay.
Also, the tennis player Serena Williams, winner of 23 Grand Slam titles, was added to the list of personalities who expressed concern about Peng’s whereabouts.
Williams shared the tag #WhereIsPengShuai (Where is Peng Shuai?) and declared herself “devastated and shocked.”
For their part, the Americans Jessica Pegula (number 18 in the WTA ranking) and Jennifer Brady (25th), also publicly expressed their concern about the state of Shuai.
November 19, 2021, the UN requests proof of life
15 days after disappearance of the athlete, the United Nations (UN) requested evidence on the state of health and the whereabouts of the tenista china Peng Shuai.
“It would be important to have proof of where you are and whether you are okay. We strongly urge that a fully transparent investigation be carried out into his allegations of sexual assault. “said a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Liz Throssell, during a press conference in Geneva.
After the publication of the accusatory message, Peng has not appeared in public nor has he issued any direct communication.
November 21, 2021, Peng speaks to IOC President
Two days after the UN pronouncement, the tennis player reappeared and had a video call with the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach.
The IOC said in a statement that the tennis player “She explained that she was safe and sound, but that she would like her private life to be respected.” The video call lasted 30 minutes and participated: the president of the athletes commission, Emma Terho, and the Chinese Li Lingwei, who also belongs to the IOC.
This was the first direct exchange between the player and some sports official from outside China since this controversial case began.
The IOC also indicated that the player said that “she preferred to spend time with her friends and family today.”
Previously, Peng He appeared in a children’s tournament, according to a video and photos published on the official profile of the China Open on the Weibo social network.
Also a video of Sunday’s event, tweeted by Global Times editor Hu Xijin, shows Peng standing in a stadium among a group of guests whose names were announced over the loudspeaker.
A Global Times reporter tweeted another video of Peng signing autographs for children in what appears to be the same stadium, before posing with them for some photos.
Videos are added to others released images by Hu, the first of which shows Peng walking into a restaurant wearing a coat, hat, and mask. While a second video shows “Peng Shuai having dinner with his coach and friends in a restaurant. The content of the video clearly shows that they were taken on Saturday Beijing time. “
November 20, 2021, photo with cats
Photos of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai were uploaded to a Twitter profile, in which the player is shown smiling with a cat in her arms, in what appears to be her home, and in the background are stuffed animals, a trophy, a Chinese flag and certificates.
Another photo is a selfie de Peng with a Kung Fu Panda figure and a Winnie the Pooh figure in the background.
The profile of the social network indicated that the photos had been shared by Peng privately to wish his followers “a good weekend.” However, the case of the missing Chinese tennis player it continues to be the subject of censorship in the country.
On the same day, the tennis players Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal joined the tennis family that seeks answers to the case of Peng Shuain.
November 23, Chinese authorities ask not to exaggerate with Peng case
The Chinese authorities considered this Tuesday that the case of tennis player Peng Shuai, who denounced the sexual abuse suffered by a former Communist Party leader is exaggerating “malevolently.”
The Chinese statement came after the international concern raised by the athlete.
November 24, 2021, European Union calls for “verifiable evidence”
The European Union asked the Chinese authorities for “verifiable proof” of tennis player Peng Shuai’s freedom of movement and a “transparent” investigation of her allegations about the sexual abuse of which she claims to have been a victim.
Who is Peng Shuai?
Peng Shuai was born in January 1986 in Xiangtan, in the central province of Hunan, where his father worked as a policeman.
According to local media, he grew up in “an ordinary family” and started playing tennis at the age of eight thanks to his uncle, a former coach of the sport.
His career was almost cut short prematurely when doctors diagnosed him with a heart problem at the age of 12. Although her family was concerned, she decided to have surgery at that young age because she “loved tennis too much,” she once said.
At the age of 15 she traveled alone to the United States to improve her training, equipped only with an electronic dictionary.
Peng became a benchmark for sport in China after winning, together with the Taiwanese Hsieh Su-wei, the women’s doubles tournament in Wimbledon, 2013 and in the 2014 Roland Garros.
After the victory in Paris, the Asian pair spent 20 weeks at number one in the world doubles rankings.
That year he also posted his best performance in the individual category, reaching the semifinals of the US Open.
Throughout its trajectory Peng has won 23 doubles and two singles WTA tournaments, winning a total amount of almost 10 million dollars in prizes.
In August 2018, the Chinese tennis player She was suspended from the circuit for six months and fined $ 10,000 for trying to sideline Hsieh as her doubles partner for Wimbledon 2017 after the entry deadline.
The tennis integrity body charged her with “coercion” and offering “a financial reward” to Hsieh if she walked away. However, both returned to play together in doubles.
Currently, Peng She is ranked 191st in doubles and has not appeared on the WTA circuit from the Qatar Open in February 2020, just before the pandemic interrupted competitions for almost five months.
