Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai denies she made sexual assault allegations

Former world doubles number one Peng Shuai has denied that she made any sexual assault allegations in an interview to French sports publisher L'Equipe, published Monday. The tennis star, who has been at the center of a controversy following a post made on Sina Weibo last year, said that her post and its meaning had been "twisted" and that she no longer wanted anything to do with it.

The tennis star also talked about her upcoming retirement and denied that she had "disappeared", stating that she was overwhelmed by the messages and media hype following the post and had chosen to keep out of it.

In a social media post in November, Shuai alleged that former Chinese vice-premier Zhang Gaoli forced her into sex during a years-long relationship. The post was swiftly deleted and Peng was not heard from for nearly three weeks. She has since emerged at some public events, denying in December that she ever made the accusation.

"I never said anyone had sexually assaulted me in any way," Peng told the French sports daily L'Equipe, reiterating a similar comment she gave to a Singaporean newspaper back in December.

"There was a huge misunderstanding in the outside world following this post," she said. 'I don't want the meaning of this post to be twisted anymore. And I don't want any further media hype around it."

She caimed to have been the one who deleted the post and denied allegations of Chinese censors having removed it.

The International Olympics Association (IOC) and Women's Tennis Association (WTA) had both spoken out about concerns over the safety of the athlete following her near disappearance from public life following the deletion of the post. After she denied making any sexual assault allegations in December, the WTA said it was still not convinced of her well-being.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach held a video conference with Peng on November 21, but that led to accusations that he was trying to protect the hosts of the 2022 Winter Games. Bach said he would support efforts to hold an enquiry if the tennis star wanted one.

During the interview, Peng Shuai said she had met Bach for dinner outside the Olympic bubble and had talked to him about her future plans.