IOC President Thomas Bach, a day before the opening of the Beijing Olympics, spoke about the harassment of Chinese athletes, as well as the story of the tennis player Peng Shuai.
“Rumors of harassment of Chinese female athletes? I have spoken on these issues several times. I talked about this with members of our team at the IOC, Bach said. – As for the story of Peng Shuai, we want answers to our questions. We don’t even know where it is or how we can find it. Therefore, we decided to meet her in Beijing to understand the details of her story.
We care about her physical safety. She responded to our initiative, we are working in a negotiation manner. We want to understand this situation step by step. If she wants a detailed investigation, we’re ready. Everything depends on her. After all, she had previously withdrawn her accusations. So for starters, in person, we want to make sure she’s okay physically and mentally.”
Recall Peng Shuai accused a high-ranking Chinese party official of sexual assault in the fall, after which she stopped communicating.
When the international scandal began, the tennis player briefly returned to the media space and phoned the IOC twice. Doubts about her well-being remain, and the Women’s Tennis Association has canceled all tournaments in China pending a full investigation in the country.
The Winter Olympics opens in Beijing on February 4th and lasts for two weeks.
