Press Note: We ask all our followers to please direct any concerns about Mr. Peng to the International Tennis Federation and to the Tennis Channel.
CNN Sports: China Still Blocking Coverage of Tennis Player’s Disappearance
China is still blocking access to international news outlets who report on China’s Foreign Ministry officials seeking to investigate the disappearance of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai, according to officials at international media.
The department of the London-based International Tennis Federation — representing women’s tennis — says it is speaking to its member broadcasters about the allegations.
The Tennis Channel, owned by New York-based Turner, announced in a tweet last week that it has been blacklisted by China’s Foreign Ministry, in an apparent violation of media guidelines.
The sports department of the London-based International Tennis Federation says it is speaking to its member broadcasters about the allegations. “We are aware of the story and our procedures,” the International Tennis Federation’s sports department spokesman said, adding that the ITF’s World Basketball Committee is looking into the incident.
“We continue to question why we are being blocked and we are investigating.”
CNN Sports has spoken to multiple media outlets in China about the issue and it is understood that the ITF, the White House and the International Olympic Committee are also investigating.
CNN Sports previously reported that the government was blocking sites like Google and Facebook for people who it says do not have a right to exist in China.
Lawyers for lawyers who represent Peng’s family told CNN last week that officials were seeking to interview the tennis player’s family. She had expressed concern about her political life in China.
Meanwhile, a coach representing Peng said last week that Peng told him a dozen phone calls took place between Chinese government officials on Monday and Tuesday.
CNN’s amateur tennis editor Chris Johnson asked China’s Foreign Ministry if it was aware of the reports, to which they responded: “No comment.”
– Kieu, Yin, Li (CNN World News), Sis Cheng and Kamran Agha contributed to this report.