Recently, the most focused event in the world table tennis arena is naturally the announcement by Paris Olympics men's singles and women's singles champions Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng to withdraw from the world rankings. Now, with the public response from the World Table Tennis Federation (WTT) and Fan Zhendong, the incident has further escalated. Interestingly, the WTT and Fan Zhendong have different opinions. It seems that one side is not reasonable, but judging from the attitude of the fans, the majority are supporting Fan Zhendong.
Just a few days ago, Olympic champion Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng suddenly announced publicly at different times on the same day that they would withdraw from the world rankings. This immediately became a hot search topic, attracting attention and discussion. In his statement, Fan Zhendong said, "Recently, WTT introduced a new rule that fines players for not participating in events. I am unable to bear it but still respect the international organization, so I can only choose to withdraw from the world rankings for now. According to the requirements of the International Table Tennis Federation and the Chinese Table Tennis Association, I have submitted a report this week."
Shortly after Fan Zhendong made his public announcement, Chen Meng also issued a public statement: "Recently, WTT introduced a new rule that fines players for withdrawing from events. Due to my current physical condition, I cannot withstand the intensity of each high-level event. Out of respect for the international organization, I signed the documents on Monday and ultimately decided to withdraw from the world rankings."
The two Olympic champions announced their withdrawal from the world rankings on the same day, which immediately caused a huge stir in the world of table tennis. Why did Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng decide to withdraw from the world rankings? This is due to a regulation from the World Table Tennis Federation that states, "Players are not allowed to participate in any table tennis events, club matches, or exhibition games held in the same week as those they have withdrawn from, cancelled, or forfeited." If they do not participate, they will face hefty fines. Some netizens calculated this rule and found that if top players ranked 1-20 do not participate in WTT events, based on the first 11 months of the 2025 WTT schedule, they will be fined $225,000, equivalent to about 1.642 million yuan. Even if they participate throughout the year and win every event, the prize money would still be less than 2 million yuan.
After such top players as Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng announced their decision not to participate in the world rankings, the World Table Tennis Federation quickly responded publicly. The WTT stated, "The rules mentioned by Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng are not newly introduced. These regulations, including the automatic entry of top-ranked players into the competition list, have been in place since the establishment of WTT four years ago." "The penalties for non-participating players aim to support the WTT calendar structure, ensuring that fans, organizers, event partners, and broadcast partners can see the world's top players compete. This is particularly important for top-tier events such as the WTT Grand Slam, WTT Champions, and WTT Finals. Penalties are imposed for withdrawal reasons other than verified medical causes to maintain competitive balance, ensure consistency, and uphold fairness for all participants."
In response to WTT's response, Fan Zhendong expressed confusion and reiterated his opinion on this matter. Fan Zhendong stated on social media, "I am not sure when the content related to penalizing non-participating players first appeared, but I am certain that I was never officially informed that there would be fines for withdrawing from events before. I speculate that this is because WTT had not yet established a complete schedule before the end of this year. I received the official notice last week, stating that WTT will strictly enforce the newly introduced penalty rules starting next year. I received the documents on Monday and signed and submitted them on the same day."
Judging from the mutual responses between the World Table Tennis Federation and Fan Zhendong, it seems that one side is not telling the truth. Judging from the comments of the fans, the vast majority support Fan Zhendong, believing that the World Table Tennis Federation is completely unreasonable and does not state the facts. Besides the fans, many skilled players have also openly expressed their dissatisfaction. French athlete Simon Gauzy directly stated his position: "I do not accept the statement. Stating the facts without any changes is what you are doing. Because of these rules, we are losing the idols of this sport. You cannot ignore the fact that this is not helpful to the players. Now is the time for real change." The Lebrun brothers responded to this, replying "Correct" under Gauzy's comment.