Peng Shuai can move freely in China, says IOC president before meeting tennis player in Beijing

Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai will meet in person with Olympic officials during the Beijing Games, organisers have confirmed.

The three-time Olympian went missing in November after making an allegation of sexual assault against former vice premier Zhang Gaoli on Chinese social media site Weibo.

The post was quickly deleted and the 36-year old has since denied the claims, although concerns for her wellbeing and ability to act freely remain.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach held a video call with Ms Peng last year but insists he wants to see her in person.

“We had information on her wellbeing but only via video conference and this cannot replace personal contact,” he said.

“We know from her explanations to us that she is living here in Beijing and she can move freely and is spending time with her friends and family.

“Our approach was and is first of all in the interest of Peng Shuai. It is a necessity to respect her and listen to her and how she sees the situation and how she wants to live her life. This is what, step by step, we are trying to find out.

“If she wants to have an inquiry, we would support her in this but it must be her decision, it’s her life, her allegations and we’ve heard the withdrawal too.

“We will continue our conversations and we’ll know better about her physical and mental state when we can meet in person. Now the next step is to convince us, in person, of her wellbeing and state of mind.”

No one could ever expect arch-diplomat Mr Bach to adopt the more strident take of the Women’s Tennis Association, who continue to loudly demand explanations on Ms Peng’s whereabouts and have cancelled all events in China until they are satisfied.

There are few more politically savvy organisations than the IOC, despite its continued protestations about neutrality.

And Mr Bach’s answer to questions about the treatment of the Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang was predictable – he is a master of talking a lot but saying not very much.

Usually he would get a chance to glad-hand world leaders at the Olympics but a widespread diplomatic boycott has denied him the stage he loves.

“Our position must be not to comment on political issues,” he added.

“If we take a political standpoint and get in the middle of tensions, disputes and confrontations then we are putting the Games at risk.

“We can’t have the Games staged only between nations whose governments agree with each other, that would lose us our mission and it would be the end of the Olympic Games.

“We can only unite countries in sport if the Olympics stands above political issues. We must be politically neutral and not become a tool to achieve political goals.”

Meanwhile, several IOC members have hit out at Fifa’s plans for a biennial World Cup – a political football the IOC seem a little more willing to tackle.

“The plan would create immeasurable damage and would put in danger sport and in particular football,” said leading African official Mustapha Berraf.

“It would simply push away other sports and relegate them to the back benches which is unacceptable and create a rift between women’s and men’s sport and be a setback to our aim of creating equity and parity for all sports.”

Fifa president Gianni Infantino is also a member of the IOC but he pulled out of attending here just two days ago, claiming the pandemic meant he would not be able to leave Cameroon, where he is watching the African Cup of Nations.

“We would like to discuss this World Cup proposal but this is not possible because he cancelled his visit to Beijing the day before yesterday,” added Mr Bach. “We should not discuss this now in respect for our colleague.”

Mr Bach is expected to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin in Beijing this week and urged all signatories to the Olympic Truce, a UN resolution unanimously adopted in December.

Reports point to the increasing likelihood of an invasion of Ukraine in the coming days and Mr Putin broke a similar truce just days after the Olympics were staged in Sochi eight years ago, when Russian tanks rolling across the border to annex Crimea.

“The resolution is a highly symbolic act recognised by UN’s member states,” added Mr Bach. “We are not a political organisation but we can only appeal for nations to respect their own commitment.”

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