Chinese tennis star Peng Shaui had a video call on Sunday with the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and told him she was safe and well, the IOC said in a statement.

Photos and videos of Peng at a tournament in Beijing earlier on Sunday had done little to defuse international concerns, following a nearly three-week public absence after she alleged that a former senior Chinese official sexually assaulted her.

In a statement, the IOC said that at the start of the 30-minute call with its president Thomas Bach, Peng had thanked the IOC for its concern about her well-being. “She explained that she is safe and well, living at her home in Beijing, but would like to have her privacy respected at this time,” the IOC’s statement said.

France's foreign minister had earlier called on the Chinese authorities to provide more reassurance, echoing a statement by the Women’s Tennis Association that the images were “insufficient” proof. The US and Britain had also called for China to provide proof of Peng’s whereabouts.

The concern over Peng came as global rights groups and others have called for a boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February over China's human rights record.