two coaches quitting the China Open. All
the players and coaches who had walked
out re-tweeted the apology statement on
their Weibo accounts. Three days later,
Liu Guoliang posted a long Weibo mes-
sage, saying that he supports the reform
and apologised for his players’ withdrawal.
“I firmly support President Xi Jinping’s
guidance and instructions on reform and
believe that China will become stronger
under his leadership... Reform is a must
for Chinese sports and there are indeed
many faults in the existing management
system... I will not hinder the reform to
keep my position,” Liu wrote.
“As a [former] head coach, I should be
responsible for my players’ withdrawal. It
proved that I had done a bad job in terms
of their moral education and manage-
ment,” he added.
The heavy official tone of the statement
is believed to be far from Liu’s ordinary
style – Liu once told CCTV, the national
TV network, that he wanted to be neither
an official nor a politician. People alleged that this statement was Liu’s
surrender to power, or that he and the protesting players and coaches
might even be kept away from national table tennis circles if they did
not apologise.
But no official statement has followed, leaving this as just specula-
tion. On June 24, Hao Jinsong, who is well-known for frequently su-
ing government departments to urge them to publicise information,
wrote an open letter to the GAS, demanding it disclose the details of
the transfer.
“Liu’s work contract has not expired at the time he was relieved of
his post, so his role as head coach of the national table tennis team is
protected by law... and the GAS, as the governmental management
department for table tennis, has the legal duty to tell the truth to
the public,” read the open letter. “According to China’s Regulation on
Government Information Disclosure, I, a ping pong fan, apply to the
GAS to disclose related information and to give me a written reply
within the statutory time limit. Otherwise I will file an administrative
request,” he added.
Worries
The public got no reply from the GAS so far, but was soon knocked
sideways by a subsequent piece of news: on June 29 it was announced
that the Chinese men’s ping pong team will withdraw from the up-
coming Australian Open – a decision made by the CTTA. Although
the statement from the CTTA claimed that the withdrawal was due
to players’ “over-fatigue” and “serious injuries,” people suspected
it may relate to Liu’s transfer, which still remained as a key concern
among the public.
“Some players [of the men’s team] have not participated in a big
international competition for almost half a year. Are they tired? And
doesn’t the women’s team feel tired?” questioned one netizen.
“You said it is unpatriotic to quit an [international] competition, so
what are you doing now?” remarked another one.
What worried the netizens more was whether the ping pong team
would be impacted by Liu’s sudden reassignment just as the players
had tweeted that they “have no heart for games.” During the China
Open, for example, Ma Long and Fan Zhendong were defeated by
their Japanese rivals in the doubles. As they later quit the singles, the
two star players left the competition empty-handed. Again, at the re-
cent under-18s matches at the Asian Junior and Cadet Champion-
ships, three promising Chinese players were defeated by their Japanese
rivals. Chinese spectators worried that their national sport will fall to
a low ebb due to Liu’s departure.
“I had felt proud when I heard people say that Chinese ping pong
will not be defeated by anyone else but the Chinese themselves. It
turns out to be ironic that the ‘Chinese’ refers not to the ‘players’ but
‘officials’ instead,” was one widely-shared comment by a netizen fol-
lowing the news about Liu’s transfer.After the men’s team withdrew from the China Open, audiences chanted
“Liu Guoliang” in the stadium, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, June 23Photo by VCG