November 17, (THEWILL) – Steve Simon, the WTA chairman and CEO, believes an email sent to him purporting to be from missing tennis player Peng Shuai is a forgery.
As THEWILL reported, in a post published on the Chinese microblogging platform Weibo earlier this month, the 35-year-old Peng accused Zhang Gaoli of sexual coercion. The 75-year-old official served as the senior vice-premier of the People’s Republic of China between 2013 and 2018.
She has not been seen since her post, which was swiftly removed. Naomi Osaka, Novak Djokovic, and a slew of other tennis stars have expressed concern about her safety.
On Wednesday, China’s state-run China Global Television Network (CGTN) put up an email on Twitter claiming that Peng confirmed her safety in a message to Simon.
Simon, on the other hand, immediately and publicly stated that the email he got makes him even more concerned about her safety. In a statement expressing his concerns, the WTA chairman said:
“The statement released today by Chinese state media concerning Peng Shuai only raises my concerns as to her safety and whereabouts.
“I have a hard time believing that Peng Shuai actually wrote the email we received or believes what is being attributed to her. Peng Shuai displayed incredible courage in describing an allegation of sexual assault against a former top official in the Chinese government.
“The WTA and the rest of the world need independent and verifiable proof that she is safe. I have repeatedly tried to reach her via numerous forms of communication, to no avail.
“Peng Shuai must be allowed to speak freely, without coercion or intimidation from any source. Her allegation of sexual assault must be respected, investigated with full transparency and without censorship.
“The voices of women need to be heard and respected, not censored nor dictated to.”
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
