Too big to be true.

An email received by the WTA and attributed to Peng Shuai, whose tennis world remains without news a dozen days after it denounced the sexual violence of a former Chinese leader, raises concern on the side of his boss Steve Simon.

The boss of the WTA, which manages the women's professional tennis circuit, said he doubted official information from China on the champion.

"The statement released today by Chinese state media regarding Peng Shuai only increases my concern for his safety and location," wrote Steve Simon in a statement released Wednesday evening.

"I find it hard to believe that Peng Shuai actually wrote the email we received and that she could mean the words attributed to her," he adds.

A suspicious email

The Chinese channel CGTN, intended for the international public, unveiled on Twitter on Wednesday evening the screenshot of an email attributed to Peng Shuai, that the Chinese player would have sent to the WTA, without the authenticity of the message being able to be confirmed. .

The English-language comments in the originally suspicious message contradict statements made by Peng Shuai, who accused a former deputy prime minister of coercing her into sex three years ago.

"The information, especially concerning the accusation of sexual assault, is false," said the player in this message.

“I am neither missing nor in danger.

I was just resting at home, everything is fine.

Thanks again for hearing from me ”.

The content of the Chinese message raised doubts as to its authenticity: Twitter users noted that a cursor was visible on the message broadcast by CGTN, a strange phenomenon for a screenshot.

Forced confessions

In the past, the Communist regime has been accused of broadcasting forced confessions of suspects on the public media.

The same channel CGTN had its license withdrawn in the United Kingdom at the beginning of the year for having broadcast a "confession" attributed to a British citizen arrested in China.

"Peng Shuai's latest statements, published by public media, should not be taken at face value," said William Nee, of the China Human Rights Defenders Association.

"The Chinese government has a long experience of arbitrarily detaining people involved in controversial cases, preventing them from speaking freely and forcing them to make public statements," he said in a statement.

Unreachable Peng Shuai

The head of the WTA meanwhile observed that Peng Shuai had "shown incredible courage in describing sexual violence which she says she was the victim of by a former senior Chinese leader."

He also claims "independent and verifiable proof" that the player is safe.

"I tried several times to reach her by different means of communication, in vain," he said, demanding that Peng Shuai "be allowed to express himself freely, without coercion or intimidation of any kind.

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Sport

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  • WTA

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  • Faded away

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