Virginie Phulpin 7:25 am, November 16, 2021

Every day, the morning of Europe 1 looks back on one of the sporting events that make the news.

This Tuesday, Virginie Phulpin looks back on the disappearance of the tennis player, Peng Shuai.

According to her, her disappearance after her rape accusations against a minister should be taken very seriously by everyone.

The Chinese tennis player has been missing for more than 10 days.

Since she accused a former Chinese vice premier of rape.

The general public is alarmed, but athletes and sports authorities remain very silent. 

How not to worry?

We are talking about a total disappearance.

Is Peng Shuai okay, is she free to move around?

We have no information.

Apart from the Chinese tennis federation which assures the WTA, the organization of the players, that all is well.

Ah good ?

Very good, but then why is Peng Shuai showing no sign of life when the hashtag Where Is Peng Shuai, where is Peng Shuai, has gone viral on social media?

The WTA tries to reassure everyone, but none of its leaders have spoken directly to the player. I will briefly review the facts. On November 2, Peng Shuai, who notably won Roland Garros in doubles in 2014, posted a message on the equivalent of Twitter in China. She accuses a former high Chinese official of having raped her when he invited her to his home for a game of tennis. And she explains that she knows very well that she takes risks by denouncing him, but that she wants to tell the truth. The message only stayed online for a few minutes before being deleted, and the player's account was deactivated in the process. That day, the word "tennis" was even banned on the Chinese network.And we should take the leaders who tell us that all is well at their word? It seems a little complicated to me coming from a country where censorship is king. 

The authorities of tennis still ended up seizing the case

We almost waited.

More than 10 days before a first reaction.

If the WTA has procrastinated so much, it is because it has huge economic interests in China.

Women's tournaments with huge endowments, juicy contracts like the one that allows China to organize the Women's Masters at the end of the year, and so on.

The WTA has been openly flirting with the Chinese market for years.

From there dragging his feet to defend a player?

I let you judge ...

But yes, the leaders did eventually react. They could no longer really close their eyes to the crowd of anonymous people who sounded the alarm on the networks. Where is Peng Shuai? Big names in tennis are asking themselves the question, like Chris Evert, or in France Nicolas Mahut for example. But it must be said, the vast majority of current players are very silent on this subject. This is where we remember that tennis is indeed an individual sport. It even goes beyond tennis. All athletes should be moved. Let us not forget that in two and a half months the Beijing Winter Olympics will open. What are all the participating countries going to do? Go there quietly without asking for accounts? We aim for the medal table before we get alarmed by the fate of a sportswoman? No, we must call on the Chinese authorities.Where is Peng Shuai, and how is she?