The 35-year-old player, former world No. 1 doubles player and star in her country, has disappeared after accusing on social media the former Deputy Prime Minister Zhang Gaoli - who was from 2013 to 2018 one of the seven most powerful politicians in China - for coercing her into sex three years ago, before making her his mistress.

A message quickly erased.

"It would be important to have evidence as to her whereabouts and whether she is okay. And we urge that a transparent investigation be conducted into her allegations of sexual assault," a door said. - speech of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Liz Throssell, at a press briefing in Geneva.

"We want to stress that it is important to know where she is and what condition she is in, and how she is," said Throssell.

The world of tennis mobilized

The WTA, the body which governs world women's tennis, has also called for a "transparent and fair" investigation, going so far as to threaten China with no longer appearing on the planetary circuit.

WTA CEO Steve Simon at a press conference on October 26, 2016 in Singapore ROSLAN RAHMAN AFP / Archives

"We are fully prepared to withdraw (from China) our activities and face all the complications that arise," Steve Simon, CEO of the WTA, warned Thursday.

"Because it's (these accusations) more important than business," he continued.

The consequences could be notable for the organization, of which China was a major partner before the pandemic and the strict health measures that led to the cancellation of tournaments in this country.

Concern over the player has been expressed over the past few days by several big names in tennis who have joined together on social media under the hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai.

From the world No.1 Novak Djokovic judging the case "shocking" at the beginning of the week to Naomi Osaka also affirming to be "shocked by the situation", through the stars Alexander Zverek, Stan Wawrinka or Serena Williams, "devastated", the biggest names in tennis reacted to express their fears about the fate of Peng Shuai.

France and Wimbledon worried

She posted her accusations on November 2 on her official Weibo account, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, before any reference to the post was blocked by China.

AFP was unable to confirm whether it was written by Peng Shuai in person.

Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai at Tianjin STR tournament on October 13, 2017 AFP / Archives

Since that date, the player victorious in doubles at Wimbledon in 2013 and Roland Garros in 2014 has no longer appeared in public, despite an email attributed to her by the Chinese official media and broadcast on Thursday, the authenticity of which has largely been questioned by Steve Simon.

Like the United Nations and the world of tennis, French diplomacy has also said it is "concerned about the lack of information on the situation of tennis player Peng Shuai, which worries the international community and sports circles", in a statement released Friday by the Foreign Ministry.

For its part, the Lawn Tennis Association, organizer of Wimbledon, on Friday deemed the situation "worrying", saying in a statement to have "written to the WTA to offer (his) help in their efforts to establish safety and good -being of Peng Shuai ".

© 2021 AFP