On December 19th, the Chinese sports world was shocked by the news that former sports bureau director Gou Zhongwen had been officially arrested. This news quickly spread online, attracting a lot of attention and discussion, with many netizens applauding the decision.
During Gou Zhongwen's tenure, two table tennis champions, Liu Guoliang and Cai Zhenhua, also suffered greatly. So, what did he do, and why are people applauding?
Sports Bureau Director Gou Zhongwen
In fact, when Gou Zhongwen took office, he faced a lot of controversy. In everyone's view, Gou Zhongwen, who majored in electronic information management, did not have enough understanding of the sports industry. Could such an "outsider" manage the development of the sports industry well? Moreover, another candidate competing with Gou Zhongwen for the position of sports bureau director at that time was Cai Zhenhua, a table tennis player who had won multiple world championships. In everyone's subconscious mind, they would think that those engaged in the sports industry might better understand the management of the sports industry's development.
However, facing the controversy, Gou Zhongwen did not respond much. He chose to give answers through actions. After taking office, Gou Zhongwen immediately started the three fires of a new official, hoping to achieve some achievements through bold and rapid reforms to gain everyone's recognition. However, these three fires each sparked even greater controversy.
The First Fire
Soon after taking office, Gou Zhongwen proposed a major reform of the national table tennis team. At that time, the coaching staff of the national table tennis team was mainly composed of a model of "head coach - men's and women's head coaches - divisional coaches." However, Gou Zhongwen required the cancellation of the head coach of the national table tennis team, leaving only the men's and women's head coaches.
This led to Liu Guoliang no longer being able to serve as the head coach of the national table tennis team but was instead transferred to become the vice-chairman of the Table Tennis Association, knowing that there were 22 such vice-chairmen.
It sounds like a promotion for Liu Guoliang, but in fact, the vice-chairman has no real power and is powerless to interfere with any matters related to the training of the table tennis team. This decision also led to the "June 23 Incident" of the national table tennis team, where all the main players announced their withdrawal from the competition and openly published articles supporting Liu Guoliang on social media platforms.
Although the incident eventually ended with Liu Guoliang and the athletes publicly apologizing and accepting punishment, this incident also made netizens begin to doubt Gou Zhongwen's professional ability. Indeed, the results of the national table tennis team were severely affected by this decision, forcing Gou Zhongwen to make concessions and invite Liu Guoliang back to serve as the head coach of the national table tennis team again.
The Second Fire
Seeing that the first fire did not achieve the expected level, Gou Zhongwen immediately began other reforms. For example, facing the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, in Gou Zhongwen's eyes, this was a good opportunity to show himself.
In February 2020, the General Administration of Sports issued a notice to further strengthen basic physical fitness training, which is the physical fitness test. In this notice, it was required that athletes in various events must first pass the most basic physical fitness test. If the results are not up to standard, they cannot participate in the Tokyo Olympics.
In other words, whether it's figure skating, javelin throwing, table tennis, swimming, or even card playing, shooting, they all have to pass the same physical fitness test, which is undoubtedly very unreasonable. Different athletes train differently, so why does the national team divide into so many events if not to allow athletes to perform at their best in their respective fields?
Table tennis players may not be good at swimming, but they are definitely top-level in their profession. Is such a one-size-fits-all standard requiring athletes to develop comprehensively and then cross-professionally sign up for competitions? After this decision was introduced, many netizens began to criticize Gou Zhongwen, but he remained firm in the standard of physical fitness testing without changing his stance.
This also led to many excellent athletes, even those who overwhelmingly won first place in the preliminary rounds, ultimately missing the opportunity to participate in the Olympics because they did not meet the physical fitness standards. For example, fencer Sun Yiwen once encountered such a situation in the national fencing championship and Tokyo Olympic selection event.
In the round of 16 to 8, Sun Yiwen had already won, but because she did not meet the standards in subsequent physical fitness tests, she ultimately missed the top 8. The projects that caused Sun Yiwen to lose were rope skipping and forward bending, but for experienced athletes like Sun Yiwen, physical strength may naturally be worse than younger team members.
However, fencing tests more of an athlete's experience and some small skills. It's a pity that due to the one-size-fits-all physical fitness testing, these experienced athletes missed the opportunity to win the game.
In addition to such wrong decisions as one-size-fits-all, Gou Zhongwen also contributed significantly to the decline of the national football team!
The Third Fire - National Football Team Reaches New Lows
Firstly, there was the "U23" policy proposed. To encourage the rapid development of young domestic athletes, Gou Zhongwen proposed that in the Super League, China League One, and other competitions, the number of Chinese U23 players must be equal to that of foreign players.
However, this approach did not lead to a significant improvement in the level of the national football team but instead caused its level to drop further and further, even falling out of the ranks of "Asian football powers," and its level is almost as poor as an amateur team.
This also angered countless Chinese fans, causing them to shout "refund" in the stands.
Looking back over the years, Gou Zhongwen has not achieved much in the sports industry but has caused considerable damage to Chinese sports due to repeated wrong decisions. However, Gou Zhongwen did not reflect on himself in his position but was blinded by power and money, losing his original intention. In the official notice published, the mistakes he committed were listed in several lines.
Regarding Gou Zhongwen's arrest, perhaps there were early signs. As an "outsider" parachuted in, Gou Zhongwen did not try to improve his professional abilities but acted rashly according to his own ideas. Even when errors occurred, Gou Zhongwen did not correct them in time but instead thought about how to use power to gain benefits, leading to the severe punishment of the law.
Information sources: The Paper "Former Director of the General Administration of Sport Gou Zhongwen Falls, Central Inspection Team Proposes Rectification Suggestions"
China Sports Daily "Gou Zhongwen Falls, National Sports General Administration Speaks Out"