The situation is escalating! Regarding Fan Zhendong's withdrawal from the WTT world rankings, more and more WTT executives are being discussed, and now there is new factual evidence surrounding Mr. Liu Guoliang, chairman of the WTT board of directors, with netizens questioning whether he has been restricted from leaving the country.
Looking back at major events over the past three months: In October, the Kazakhstan Asian Championships, Liu Guoliang did not attend, which was rare, as he personally led the team in the previous Asian Championships; in November, the Fukuoka year-end finals, Liu Guoliang also did not attend, but many fans still remember his energetic appearance at the award ceremony of the previous event; in December, the 53rd anniversary of China-US table tennis diplomacy, Vice Chairman Qin Zhijian of the Chinese Table Tennis Association led the team, while President Liu Guoliang did not attend.
However, on January 8th, during discussions between the International Table Tennis Federation and the Qatar Table Tennis Association regarding major matters related to the World Table Tennis Championships, Liu Guoliang, as the first vice-chairman of the International Table Tennis Federation, did not attend.
Liu Guoliang's continuous four absences have sparked widespread doubts from public opinion, even famous sports journalist He Xiaolong mentioned this matter, and many netizens question whether he has been restricted from leaving the country.
Netizens are also actively commenting on this matter: "It's time to investigate and settle accounts, deal with athletes associated with him together, cancel their continued eligibility to participate, it's some unscrupulous and immoral athletes who have fostered his evil ways, harming the good athletes who truly work hard for the national table tennis team! Go in and reflect."
"The heartache of New Year's Eve, can it be repaired before the night of the lunar New Year, I dream of seeing him go in."
"Zhang Jike said that table tennis techniques haven't innovated in 20 years, and those 20 years just happen to be the 20 years Liu Guoliang has been in charge. Whether it's judging people or technology, he followed Cai Zhenhua's path and reaped the benefits. He himself only put effort into marketing, creating a bunch of fan circles, which are more harmful than beneficial to our national sport. What do you think?"
"I also have this feeling, every time they say he will attend, but he doesn't show up. Unless Liu goes abroad to prove it, otherwise, I think what the teacher said is reasonable and well-founded."
The current factual situation is that Liu Guoliang has not traveled abroad to participate in important meetings during this period, and the only interview he accepted was during the Table Tennis Super League event, where he responded to the situation regarding Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng withdrawing from the world rankings during a CCTV interview.