“Found Peng in good health & spirits”: Dick Pound finds IOC’s criticism for its intervention in the Peng Shuai case extremely puzzling
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Dick Pound and Peng Shuai
Peng Shuai controversy is getting bigger day by day. She has not been seen or heard publicly ever since she accused former Vice Premier of China Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault in a social media post. Tennis stars and top leaders were constantly pressurizing China to issue a clarification on the issue.
The Chinese government, known for being extremely tolerant(pun intended) came out with a solution to put an end to this controversy. They issued a letter, allegedly written by Peng to the WTA Chairman. However, the letter was not considered a credible piece of evidence. So to prove that Peng was safe, the Chinese authorities organized a video call between Peng and Thomas Bach.
“There might have been a few private matters discussed”: Pound on why Peng’s video call was not made public
Bach shared pictures of the video call with Peng on social media but again, many claimed the images were doctored and added that it is highly probable that it was all a charade organized by the Chinese government and supported by the Olympic Committee.
The accusation of doctored images comes after WTA chief Steve Simon has failed to make any communication with the former doubles World No. 1 and the question continues to loom as to why no action has been taken against Zhang. Many people took to Twitter to express their frustration over IOC.
Issuing a clarification on the issue, senior IOC member Dick Pound claimed that he finds it puzzling as to why IOC is being criticized. “A lot of people around the world were looking to see what happened with Peng Shuai and nobody was able to establish contact, only the IOC was able to do so,” he said.
“They found her in good health and there was no evidence of confinement. Peng wanted to spend some time with her family and friends. If you are really concerned about Peng, we have good news,” he said. However, when Pound was asked as to why the video call hasn’t been made public, he was unable to give a satisfactory response.
Pound, in reply, claimed that there might have been a few private matters discussed in the video call, which is why it hasn’t been made public. Netizens were not happy with Pound’s response and rightly so. The whole point of the call was to make the evidence of Peng’s safety public. With IOC members refusing to release the actual video, speculations are on the rise.
Also read: “China & Human Rights Abuse”: The Peng Shuai Story tells the reality of the Communist Party in China
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Shubham Bhargava
(1813 Articles Published)