Missing tennis player from China
Associations and athletes around the world are demanding clarification in the case of Peng Shuai
Peng Shuai in 2016
© Fred Dufour / AFP
Where is Peng Shuai? More and more associations and athletes are demanding clarification from the Chinese government in the case of the missing tennis player. Peng had publicly accused a top Chinese politician of rape.
The United Nations, the international women’s tennis organization WTA, the German Olympic Sports Confederation, US tennis star Serena Williams and German tennis professional Alexander Zverev have something in common at the moment: They all demand clarification in the case of the missing tennis player Peng Shuai from China.
“It would be important to have proof of their whereabouts and their well-being,” said spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Liz Throssell, in Geneva on Friday. She also called for a “fully transparent” investigation into Peng’s allegations of sexual abuse against a Communist Party official.
Serena Williams: I’m devastated
The German Olympic Sports Confederation joined the demand: “It needs clarity about your welfare and your current condition,” wrote the DOSB in a four-line tweet. One follows “with concern the events surrounding the Olympian Peng Shuai”.
Longtime women’s tennis number one Serena Williams tweeted, “I’ve been devastated and shocked since I heard the news about Peng Shuai. Hope she’s safe and found as soon as possible. This needs investigation and we must not be silent. I send love to her and her family at this incredibly difficult time. ” The best German tennis professional, Alexander Zverez, who is currently playing at the ATP Finals in Turin, expressed great concern: “We are talking about a human life, and that is much more blatant than anything we do here,” said Zverev.
WTA boss threatens to withdraw from China
WTA boss Steve Simon even threatened the complete withdrawal of the women’s tennis tour from China if the leadership in Beijing does not shed light on the darkness. “We are definitely ready to end our activities, with all the consequences that entails,” said Simon on Thursday (local time) in a CNN interview. China is now an important location, especially for women’s tennis. In 2018, the season-end tournament for the eight best players of the year from 2019 to 2028 was awarded to the Chinese city of Shenzhen.
Two weeks ago, Peng raised allegations of abuse against the former Chinese Vice Prime Minister Zhang Gaoli on the Weibo online network. The entry was quickly deleted, and the 35-year-old former double world number one has not been seen in public since then.
Alleged email published
An alleged e-mail had recently increased concerns: the Chinese state broadcaster CGTN published a screenshot of an e-mail that Peng is said to have written on the online service Twitter on Wednesday. In it, she stated that her abuse allegations were “not true” and that she was “resting at home and everything is fine”. The Association of Professional Tennis Players (WTA) questioned the authenticity of the mail.
The Chinese authorities have not yet commented on Peng’s whereabouts. A search campaign was started on Twitter under the keyword “#WhereIsPengShuai” (“Where’s Peng Shuai?”), Which is supported by the Japanese top player Naomi Osaka, among others.