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Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai has once again denied that she had made sexual assault allegations against former Chinese vice premier Zhang Gaoli.

Denies making sexual assault allegations

In an interview with French newspaper L'Equipe, Peng said that she never accused anyone of sexual assault.

She told L’Equipe that the allegations, which was taken from her post on Chinese social media site Weibo, was an "enormous misunderstanding from the outside world", as translated by The Associated Press (AP).

When asked why her post disappeared shortly after it was uploaded, Peng said that she "erased it" because she "wanted to".

She added, according to AP:

"I was to say first of all that emotions, sport and politics are three clearly separate things.

My romantic problems, my private life, should not be mixed with sport and politics."

Peng had previously made similar statements to Singapore's Chinese daily news Lianhe Zaobao in December 2021.

According to Reuters, Peng had written "why did you take me to your house and force me into having relations with you?" in her now-deleted Weibo post from Nov. 2021.

Reuters also noted that she also described the relationship with Zhang as an on-off that was consensual.

"Never disappeared"

In the interview with L’Equipe, Peng also stated that she had "never disappeared" from the public eye, despite worries from international fans and fellow tennis stars.

Peng added, according to Reuters, that she did not watch much foreign media news and could not read in English. Thus, she was unaware of the concerns from the international community.

Reuters also reported that Peng's interview with L’Equipe was conducted in Chinese and was translated into English by a Chinese Olympic official and an interpreter based in Paris.

Met IOC president face-to-face

On Feb. 4, Peng held a face-to-face meeting with Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), in Beijing.

According to the IOC, Peng informed Bach that she will attend several events at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.

The pair previously had a meeting in November 2021 via video call, in which Peng said that she was "safe and well".

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