The Peng Shuai case is still preoccupying the sports world. Now the tennis player has spoken to a foreign reporter for the first time and reacted amazed to the concerns about her freedom and health.
In a conversation with a reporter for the Chinese-language daily “Lianhe Zaobao” from Singapore, the Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai, who was considered missing, revoked the rape allegations she had made against the high-ranking communist party official Zhang Gaoli on the Weibo online service.
“I have never alleged or written that someone has sexually abused me,” said the former Wimbledon winner in a short video published by the British daily “The Guardian”. Peng was also baffled when the reporter asked if she could move around freely or if someone was watching her. “Why should anyone watch me? I am very free,” said the Chinese.
Peng Shuai was believed to be missing for two weeks
Peng, the double winner at Wimbledon and the French Open, had not been seen in public for more than two weeks after her allegations against Zhang became public in early November. Peng and Zhang had had a secret relationship with many interruptions for years.
Peng’s disappearance caused a stir internationally. After increasing international pressure, state media published recordings that showed Peng, among other things, at a tennis tournament in Beijing. At the end of November, Peng also had a half-hour video call with the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach.
The women’s tennis association WTA is demanding further clarification in the case. The WTA also announced that it will no longer host any tournaments in China for the time being.
New shots show Peng Shuai at a sporting event in Shanghai
Before the brief “Lianhe Zaobao” interview was published, a journalist for a Chinese state newspaper published new recordings of tennis player Peng Shuai, who had temporarily disappeared. Global Times’ Qingqing Chen posted an unverified video on Twitter on Sunday in which Peng appears to be speaking to Chinese basketball icon Yao Ming. Chen said the video was sent to her by a friend and was recorded at a cross-country skiing event in Shanghai.
In addition to the seven-second long video, Chen tweeted a photo of Peng standing in front of the Yangpu Bridge in Shanghai with Yao and two other Chinese athletes, the sailor Xu Lijia and the table tennis player Wang Liqin. According to state media reports, the cross-country skiing event in Shanghai took place on Saturday.
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