IOC president yet to honour Peng Shuai promise

He’s been in Beijing for almost a fortnight, but Thomas Bach still hasn’t had his face-to-face meeting with Peng Shuai.

IOC president Thomas Bach at a media conference in Beijing. He is yet to meet Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai (inset) face-to-face, despite having been in China for almost a fortnight. Pictures: AFP

Thomas Bach the president of the IOC, has said that he has not held the face-to-face meeting he promised with Peng Shuai in Beijing, even though he has been in the city for nearly two weeks.

Peng, the Chinese tennis player, alleged in November that she had been sexually assaulted by a senior politician. The 36-year-old subsequently retracted those allegations and then disappeared almost completely from public view, which triggered concerns that political pressure had prevented her from speaking freely.

The episode provoked criticism of the IOC’s decision to push on with the Winter Olympics in Beijing. Bach responded by speaking twice to Peng via video conversations, in which she assured him of her wellbeing. But the IOC recognised that it could not be sure of the veracity of her communications.

No timeline on meeting

Bach said he still expected to have a face-to-face meeting with Peng in Beijing but at a press conference on the eve of the Games, he said it had not happened yet. He added that the IOC was trying to establish whether she wanted her allegations to be investigated.

A Peng Shuai banner unfurled during protests at the Australian Open tennis in Melbourne. Picture: Twitter

“Of course we would also support her in this, but it must be her decision,” said Bach, who did not specify when his face-to-face meeting with Peng was due to take place. “I want to meet personally once I arrive here in China. And this will happen.

“Our approach is first and foremost in the interests of Peng Shuai to answer the question which was concerning us from a human point of view, that of where is Peng Shuai? That’s why we took this approach to get in contact and get to know where she is and as far as possible how she is.”

A handout photo posted on the International Olympic Committee website on November 21, 2021 shows IOC President Thomas Bach holding a video call with Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, as international pressure mounted for information about her wellbeing. Picture: Greg Martin/IOC/AFP

Bach also said that athletes should not fear punishment from the Chinese government over expressing political views at the Beijing Games. An official from the local organising committee said last month that behaviour and speech “against Chinese laws and regulations” would be “subjected to certain punishment”. But Bach insisted that political expression at the Games would be governed by IOC rules.

The Times