Peng Shuai comments on the assault – “I never said anyone had sexually abused me”

Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai denied in what was probably her first interview with foreign media on Sunday that she had made allegations of sexual assault by a high-ranking Chinese politician.

In an interview with a journalist from the Chinese-language portal “Lianhe Zaobao” from Singapore, Peng said: “I would like to emphasize one very important point: I have never said or written that there has been a sexual assault against me. I have to emphasize this clearly. ». The 35-year-old athlete spoke of “a misunderstanding”. Your post from the beginning of November in the social network “Weibo” had been misinterpreted.

The latest statement contradicts her November 2 social media post in which Peng accused former Vice Prime Minister Zhang Gaoli of forcing her to have sex. The post was removed less than 30 minutes after it was published. As a result, Peng became the focus of a worldwide media storm because she disappeared from the public for more than two weeks.

The women’s professional tennis organization WTA suspected that the former number one in the double world rankings was being put under pressure and could no longer move freely. That was not the case, said Peng Shuai now. “Why should people follow me?” She asked with a smile. She last lived at her home in Beijing without being monitored.

Further to her critical post, the sportswoman said that it was “a private matter”. She said this in a letter to WTA boss Steve Simon a few weeks ago. After receiving this letter, Simon stated that he did not believe that Peng had written the text himself. On Sunday, the 35-year-old confirmed to the Singaporean portal that she had edited the Chinese version of the email to Simon herself. But she said that the version published by the Chinese broadcaster CGTN was a translation because her knowledge of English was insufficient. “It was more or less the same,” added Peng.