Peng Shuai says allegation was ‘misunderstanding’ in interview with French newspaper; plans to retire

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Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai said global concerns over her well-being were a “misunderstanding” and denied making allegations of sexual assault against former vice premier Zhang Gaoli in a highly controlled interview with French newspaper L’Equipe, her first with an international outlet since making the accusations in a since-deleted social media post in November.

L’Equipe interviewed Peng for an hour with a Chinese Olympic Committee chief of staff Wang Kan present and published her answers in full, a requirement of the arranged interview. Peng told the newspaper that she wished the meaning of her social media post no longer be skewed and that her life has been “nothing special” since she made the post on Nov. 2 accusing the former vice premier of pressing her into having sex with him despite her refusals three years ago.

Peng, 36, also said she would retire from tennis. A two-time Grand Slam doubles champion, Shuai hasn’t played since February 2020.

The L’Equipe interview came after Peng also met face-to-face with International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach on Saturday in Beijing amid the 2022 Olympic Games. The IOC did not address Peng’s allegations of sexual assault in its statement.

The parties, joined by former Athletes’ Commission chair and IOC member Kirsty Coventry, met over dinner at the Olympic Club, the IOC said.

At the meeting, Peng told Bach she would attend “several” events at the Olympics, then attended the China-Norway mixed curling match with Coventry later that night, according to the IOC. Peng also said she plans to travel to Europe when the COVID-19 pandemic ends. She and Coventry “agreed that they would remain in contact.”

The IOC said the three agreed that “any further communication about the content of the meeting would be left to (Peng’s) discretion.”

After Peng made the accusations, the IOC announced on Nov. 21 that Bach and two other sports officials held a video call with Peng, who said she was safe and at her home in Beijing. The committee released an image of Peng on the call but did not provide any video of it.

In early December, the IOC held a second video call with Peng, saying that it “reconfirmed” she was safe amid widespread concerns over her wellbeing. That call came the same day the Women’s Tennis Association suspended all tournaments in China following the “censorship” of Peng’s sexual assault allegation against a former government official.

She had not been directly seen in public since accusing Zhang of sexual assault, prompting the WTA, the White House, several tennis players and many others to call on the Chinese government to provide proof of her safety and whereabouts in the weeks ahead of the Beijing Games.

(Photo: Fred Lee/Getty Images)

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