The anti-corruption storm in China's sports world continues to spread, and the volleyball world has not been spared. Just as everyone thought that the Li Tie case was nearing its end, a major news broke in the volleyball world: Li Quanqiang, the former director of the Volleyball Sports Management Center who retired two and a half years ago, has been investigated! Li Quanqiang is a heavyweight figure in the volleyball world, and his actions have a significant impact on the entire industry.
Li Quanqiang worked in China's volleyball world for 25 years, from 1997 to 2022, holding high-level positions throughout. He served as the leader of both the men's and women's teams before retiring as the director of the Volleyball Sports Management Center. His status in the volleyball world was almost unshakable, earning him the nickname "the invincible one" in the volleyball world.
Li Quanqiang is from Shenyang and started his career at the State Physical Education Commission's Science and Education Department after graduating from Shenyang Physical Education College. In 1997, he joined the volleyball system, serving as the director of the Volleyball Management Center's office, and later became the leader of the men's and women's teams. In March 2006, he was promoted to deputy director of the Volleyball Management Center, and in February 2017, he became the director of the Volleyball Sports Management Center under the General Administration of Sport of China, retiring in August 2022.
Under Li Quanqiang's leadership, the Chinese women's volleyball team achieved many honors. The most glorious achievement was co-leading the Chinese women's volleyball team with Chen Zhonghe to win the gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics. In 2017, he also promoted the upgrading of the Volleyball Super League and made positive attempts in market planning and packaging for the league, winning praise from the outside world for the "first year" of the Volleyball Super League. Additionally, People's Daily praised Li Quanqiang's tenure, during which the Chinese women's volleyball team successfully won the 10th world championship title in history.
However, following the failure of the women's volleyball team to advance at the Tokyo Olympics, Li Quanqiang's management experience began to be questioned, especially the conflict between him and then head coach Lang Ping, which drew public attention. Lang Ping's departure and the fluctuating performance of the women's volleyball team, coupled with Li Quanqiang's decisions gradually being criticized by the media and fans, became the focus of public opinion.
Some of Li Quanqiang's decisions have sparked widespread controversy. For example, he allowed the current captain and head coach to sign endorsement deals with competitors of the national team's sponsors, and he also tacitly approved players to participate in movie shoots, which were questioned by fans and the media at the time. At the same time, the failure to promptly address issues related to Cai Bin's remarks also became a hot topic of concern.
Since taking over as the head coach of the women's volleyball team, Cai Bin has faced tremendous public pressure, especially due to the decline in the team's performance in recent major competitions. In the 2024 World Women's Volleyball League, the Chinese women's volleyball team failed to directly qualify for the Paris Olympics and was even surpassed in Asian rankings by the Japanese women's volleyball team. Consecutive losses to Japan and Italy at the Macau station led to a drop in the world ranking of the Chinese women's volleyball team and triggered strong dissatisfaction among fans. At the scene of the match, spectators chanted "Cai Bin step down," and many people are worried about the future of the Chinese women's volleyball team.
It is worth noting that Li Quanqiang once overcame objections to promote Cai Bin, who had mediocre abilities, to become the head coach of the Chinese women's volleyball team. Despite controversies surrounding Cai Bin's coaching abilities, Li Quanqiang firmly supported him. Now, with Li Quanqiang's downfall, practitioners in the volleyball world like Cai Bin should be vigilant to avoid improper behavior; otherwise, they may face an outcome similar to that of Li Tie in the football world.