IOC holds second video call with Peng Shuai, agrees on ‘personal meeting’ in January

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has informed that it held a second call with China’s tennis star Peng Shuai, one of the most recognisable sports stars who accused former top Communist Party official, Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of pressurising her into sex at his home on 2 November. The organisation said on Thursday that she “reconfirmed” that she was safe and well given the “difficult situation”. Describing the second call, the IOC said that it offered Peng “wide-ranging support” and that it had “already agreed on a personal meeting in January."

IOC’s call with Peng on Wednesday, came as the World Tennis Association (WTA) announced an immediate pull out of its tournaments from China, including Hong Kong over Beijing’s response to player’s sexual assault allegations. “We share the same concern as many other people and organisations about the well-being and safety of Peng Shuai. This is why, just yesterday, an IOC team held another video call with her. We have offered her wide-ranging support, will stay in regular touch with her, and have already agreed on a personal meeting in January,” said the IOC.

Peng posted the 1,600-word post on the Chinese social media platform accusing Zhang, but it was removed within 30 minutes. While the tennis player was immediately muffled by China’s censorship, Beijing drew fire as Peng even disappeared from the public view. From women tennis stars to United Nations (UN), the global outcry over Peng’s case continued to grow until Chinese state media released her pictures and videos. Back on 21 November, the IOC had said in a statement that its president Thomas Bach held a 30-minute video call with the player. 

Following the first call between the three-time Olympian and Bach, the IOC described the player to be “doing fine” and was “relaxed” and saying she “would like to have her privacy respected”. However, the committee received backlash for not giving any public statements on the player’s situation or even explaining how the video call happened in the first place. 

Why is there no photo proof of the second call?

It is pertinent to note that unlike the first IOC president’s call with Peng when a photograph was released showing the player smiling, the Olympic committee released no such picture for Wednesday call. The IOC told CNN that it was not providing any visual asset of the second call even though scepticism over the Chinese tennis star continues to grow across the globe.

(IMAGE: AP)