"We can't give assurances and we don't know the full facts": IOC admits uncertainty on Peng Shuai situation  

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) acknowledged on Tuesday that they cannot guarantee the safety of Chinese athlete Peng Shuai with complete certainty.

While they still believe she is safe and well, as stated in their previous statement, the IOC have declared that they can only go on the facts reported to them.

Speaking at an online news conference organized by the IOC, spokesperson Mark Adams discussed the organization's two previous video calls with Peng Shuai and their person-centric approach to dealing with the situation.

Adams admitted (at 21:20 in the video) that it was not possible to give assurances to the press regarding Peng Shuai's safety. But he emphasized that the IOC believes their approach is the best way to ensure her safety and well-being.

"We can't give assurances and we don't know the full facts," Mark Adams said. "But you can see that we feel that it is a full road-map to attempt to keep in touch and to see where she is," he added.

When confronted as to why Peng Shuai hasn't tried to reach out to others in the tennis world, like her friends or playing partners, Adams replied that it was a personal question only Shuai could answer.

He further elaborated that even if he did know the answer, he might not be at liberty to divulge the information to the media.

"Obviously I cannot answer that because I really don't know," Adams said. "Even if I did know, it wouldn't be up to me to give the answer at a public appearance like this," he added.

IOC defends its silent diplomacy approach to the Peng Shuai situation

Former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch defended the silent diplomacy approach

Speaking about criticism of the IOC's approach to the situation, Juan Antonio Samaranch, the former IOC president, disagreed (at 40:34 in the video) with some people's belief that the IOC has trivialized the matter.

Juan Antonio believes that the IOC has focussed completely on Peng Shuai and her well-being, and that is what others should be doing as well.

"What we need to do, and we all should be doing, is concentrating on the well-being of Peng Shuai and not trying to use this for any other purpose," Juan Antonio said.

While Juan Antonio accepted that there was a chance the IOC might be wrong, he emphasized that this was the right approach in the given situation and the best way to keep the Chinese tennis player safe.

He also pointed out how the IOC used the same approach in Afghanistan to help several people, and that there was no reason to alter their tactics now.

"Don't write off the silent diplomacy," Juan Antonio said. "It is a very powerful tool and we plan to continue to stick to it," he added.