IOC president Bach says Peng Shuai can move freely in China

By GRAHAM DUNBAR
AP Sports Writer

BEIJING (AP) — The president of the International Olympic Committee has sought to play down concerns about the safety of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai while also saying he planned to go ahead with their long-promised dinner during the Beijing Games. Peng last year accused a former senior Chinese Community Party official of sexual assault. IOC president Thomas Bach is among the few people outside China to have spoken with Peng in the past three months in calls by video link with IOC staff. Bach says “we know from her explanations during the video conferences that she is living here in Beijing, that she can move freely.”