IOC president claims 'Where is Peng Shuai?' answered, WTA still concerned

The International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach on Wednesday (February 9) said that IOC has answered the questions related to Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai's whereabouts.

Shuai remained in the headlines globally in November when she appeared to allege that a former Chinese vice premier, Zhang Gaoli, had sexually assaulted her in the past.

The accusations were made in a social media post, which was deleted within minutes. However, screenshots of the same were circulated on China's Twitter-like social media platform, Weibo.

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Several tennis players raised concerns, asking "Where is Peng Shuai?" when she disappeared from public view for nearly three weeks.

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The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) kept pressing China to reveal the whereabouts of Shuai and also suspended all tournaments in China over concerns regarding her safety and security.

Recently, IOC President held a face-to-face meeting with Shuai and he was joined by the former Chair of the Athletes' Commission and IOC member Kirsty Coventry.

Also, Peng attended several sports events at the Beijing Olympics 2022 including the Big Air competition and curling as well as figure skating. In the images and videos, she was seen smiling and waving at the spectators.

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In a media interview on Sunday, Peng denied she had accused anyone of sexual assault and she had deleted her social media post in November that had appeared to make such a claim.

Meanwhile, IOC President told reporters as quoted by Reuters: "We were trying to answer the question everybody was asking: 'Where is Peng Shuai?' This is why we took this human-centred approach from the very beginning."

"This is why we invited her for a meeting here, to show everybody it is not just a one-off effort. We will keep this contact up. We answered the question 'where is Peng Shuai?' We are continuing by having invited her to come to Lausanne," he added.

Talking about her appearances during Winter Games 2022, Bach said, "You could see it in her appearances that she is enjoying the Games, enjoying being among athletes and the public and this is why we are continuing to have this contact."

"It is about caring for her. It is a human thing. It is about a person and the feelings, the emotions of one person. I hope I will meet her again in the summer in Lausanne to show that this caring is not finished with the Games. It is an ongoing effort," he added.

WTAconcerned

Meanwhile, WTA is still concerned. As per a statement published on February 8, WTA noted: "It's always good to see Peng Shuai, whether in an interview or attending the Olympic Games."

"However, her recent in-person interview does not alleviate any of our concerns about her initial post from November 2nd," the statement added.