“I never said anyone had sexually assaulted me in any way,” Chinse tennis star Peng Shuai has told the French sports daily L’Equipe on the side lines of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games.
This is the second time that former doubles No. 1 had back tracked from the sexual harassment allegations. Peng in a social media post during November last year had accused former Chinese vice-premier Zhang Gaoli of forcing her into sex.
The post was subsequently deleted from the Chinese social media platform Weibo. While it was widely believed that the strict Chinese regime had forced the social media platform to delete the comments, Peng claimed she had herself removed the post.
“There was a huge misunderstanding in the outside world following this post. I wanted to (delete it),” she told L’Equipe during the interview. “I don’t want the meaning of this post to be twisted anymore. And I don’t want any further media hype around it.”
Peng had gone missing for three weeks after accusing Gaoli. The 33-year-old now also denies that she was missing. “I never disappeared. It’s just that many people, like my friends or people from the IOC messaged me and it was simply impossible to answer so many messages,” said Peng, who was accompanied by Chinese Olympic Committee chief of staff Wang Kan during the interview conducted in Winter Games bio bubble.
As she reappeared in several events in early December, Peng had also told a Singapore newspaper that she never accused anyone of sexual harassment.
Peng has also confirmed her retirement from professional tennis, attributing the decision to a major injury and disruptions to travel and treatment during the pandemic.
Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) chairman Steve Simon, according to news agency AFP, is still concerned about wellbeing of Peng. “Her recent in-person interview does not alleviate any of our concerns about her initial post from November 2nd,” Simon said.
“As we would do with any of our players globally, we have called for a formal investigation into the allegations by the appropriate authorities and an opportunity for the WTA to meet with Peng – privately – to discuss her situation,” the agency has quoted her as saying.
Sports and human rights activists the world over had expressed concerns about the iconic tennis star’s safety. Some of the world’s biggest tennis stars, including Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic, spoke out about the Peng case. The United Nations and the White House also expressed concern.
Peng was also in news during the Australian Open. Human rights activists had distributed “Where is Peng Shuai” T-shirts during the first Major of the year. Tennis Australia, the tournament organisers, had to retract and allow the T-Shirts during the matches after having made an attempt to ban them.
Meanwhile, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach has also met Peng along with IOC member Kirsty Coventry.
“We had dinner together on Saturday and we had a nice discussion and exchange,” Peng said. “He asked me whether I am considering competing again, what my projects are, what I’m planning to do, and so on.”
