Olympic table tennis champion Fan Zhendong says he was never ‘officially informed’ about fines

BEIJING – Olympic table tennis star Fan Zhendong said on Dec 29 that he had never been “officially informed” that he would be fined for not competing on the world tour, despite officials saying the rules were “consistent, not new”.

The 27-year-old, who took the men’s singles title in Paris in August,

announced on Dec 27 he was quitting the World Table Tennis (WTT) World Tour,

saying he could not “afford” to pay fines under new participation rules.

Compatriot Chen Meng, the women’s singles champion in Tokyo and Paris, also said she would pull out of the circuit.

But the WTT said that the rules were “consistent, not new”.

“The rules referenced by Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng are not newly introduced,” the WTT said in a statement online, adding that they “have been in place since WTT’s inception four years ago”.

“We deeply respect the contributions of Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng, two icons who have inspired countless fans and athletes worldwide,” it added.

Chen, 30, said on Weibo: “Because my body is unable to withstand high-intensity competition, out of respect for the international organisation, I signed the form on Monday and made the choice to withdraw from the world rankings.”

Meanwhile, Fan, reacting to the WTT statement, held that he was told the rule would be enforced “from next year”.

“When this specifically happened, I’m not sure, but I’m certain that I’ve never been officially informed that I would be fined for withdrawing from competition,” he said. “I personally received the official notice last week, that from next year, WTT would strictly enforce the newly enacted penalties.”

Some Chinese fans reacting to the WTT statement on Weibo compared the tour to an “overlord”, with one commenter calling the penalties for withdrawing from competitions “bullying”.

According to the WTT, the penalties are in place to “ensure that top-tier players are represented at key WTT events, preserving the integrity of global competition”.

The situation is similar to recent incidents in badminton.

Two-time Olympic and world champion Viktor Axelsen

lashed out at the Badminton World Federation (BWF)

on social media on Dec 4, noting that he was “tired of the disconnect between players and BWF”.

The Danish world No. 4 pulled out of the Dec 11-15 BWF World Tour Finals in Hangzhou, China because of a left foot injury and took issue with the world governing body’s response to his withdrawal.

The defending champion shared on X that BWF had asked for his medical documents in order to waive the US$5,000 (S$6,800) penalty for not competing in the US$2.5 million tournament. AFP, XINHUA