Frantic Search For Chinese Peng Shuai As French Media Publish Her On Cover

French sports daily L'Equipe placed Peng Shuai on the front page of its Saturday edition as the whereabouts of the Chinese tennis star remained unknown on Friday.

Aside from the publication, the United Nations and United States President Joe Biden have asked China to provide the details of the whereabouts of the tennis player, calling for an investigation into the matter.

Former doubles world No. 1 Peng has not been seen or heard from publicly since she said on Chinese social media on November 2 that former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli coerced her into sex and they later had an on-off consensual relationship.

The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) threatened to pull tournaments out of China over the 35-year-old's disappearance and the White House asked Beijing to prove she was safe.

"Où est Peng Shuai?" (Where is Peng Shuai?) L'Equipe asks on its front page as the newspaper's deputy chief editor Jean-Philippe Leclaire hits out at what he calls the International Olympic Committee's "deafening silence".

"How could the Winter Olympic Games open 'normally', in Beijing, on 4 February, if by then, an answer, clear, precise and especially reassuring is not brought to the question that the athletes of the whole world should henceforth ask: but where is Peng Shuai?"

Neither Zhang nor the Chinese government has commented on her allegation. Peng's social media post was quickly deleted and the topic has been blocked from the discussion on China's heavily censored internet.

Concern among the global tennis community and beyond has grown over Peng's safety and whereabouts since her allegation, with the WTA calling for an investigation.

Some of the world's top tennis players, including Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka, as well as the German Olympic Committee, have used the social media hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai.