Dick Pound Criticized After Claiming Peng Shuai Is ‘Fine’ Amid Well-Being Concerns

International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound faced online backlash on Wednesday after claiming Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai was “fine,” according to a “unanimous conclusion” by members of the group who spoke to the athlete.

Pound shared the update on Shuai amid concerns about her well-being with CNN. On Nov. 2, Shuai accused the former Vice Premier of China, Zhang Gaoli, of sexual assault on social media.

However, the post was deleted and Shuai disappeared from the public eye. Her absence from the spotlight resulted in other tennis players expressing their concerns by using the hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai.

Although Shuai has since made a public appearance and reportedly spoke to members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), there is still some concern about her safety and whether she is being coerced into acting like she is fine.

Pound, who wasn’t on the call, appeared confident that his colleagues would have been able to tell if Shuai was being forced to act like nothing was wrong.

“There are lots of countries where you can’t easily leave the country. I think a lot of that is speculation,” Pound told CNN anchor Erin Burnett.

“What we have is hard evidence as we can have and feel. These are people who have dealt with athletes and dealt with pressure. They can tell whether somebody is behaving under duress or not.”

Pound went on to claim Shuai “just asked that her privacy be respected for the time being.”

Following his comments, Pound’s name began trending on Twitter, with people criticizing over his comments.

Pound’s come after the European Union called on China to release “verifiable proof” that Shuai was safe and launch an investigation into her ​​sexual assault claims.