IOC to meet with Peng Shuai at Beijing Winter Olympics

The International Olympic Committee has revealed it has spoken with Peng Shuai and has arranged to meet with her in person at the Winter Olympics in Beijing next month.

If she is to appear at the Games, it will be extremely an noteworthy occasion in this mysterious saga.

Peng faded from the public eye for almost three weeks at the end of last year after accusing China's former Vice Premier Zhang Ghaoli of sexual misconduct.

Concerns spread around the world as more days of silence went by, resulting in a number of high profile players including Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka rallying for answers on social media.

Soon after, pictures of Peng at social events, including an executive dinner and a tennis event in Beijing, were released by Chinese government-controlled media on Twitter.

A spokesperson for the IOC said in a statement to AFP that contact had been kept up between the Olympic body and the Chinese tennis star during concerns over her wellbeing.

They initially spoke back in November when Peng appeared on a video call with IOC President Thomas Bach.

The legitimacy of the video call was questioned at the time.

From Chinese state media, “from” Peng Shuai. Deeply dubious. pic.twitter.com/XJkB169VD9

A letter purportedly written by the former doubles world number one also raised a lot of eyebrows, while emails sent from Peng to Women's Tennis Association CEO Steve Simon were questioned.

Simon concluded the player was "not free from censorship or coercion" based on the content of her emails and stressed he and the WTA remain "deeply concerned" over her wellbeing. 

The two-time Grand Slam doubles winner recently took part in an interview with a Singaporean newspaper, where she denied making any accusations against Ghaoli