Recently, the anti-corruption campaign in China's sports world has been like a surging wave, one after another impacting the public's vision, and the news of many high-level sports officials falling has left people gasping.
Let's talk about the heaviest weight: former director of the General Administration of Sport Gou Zhongwen was first expelled from the party and then directly arrested.
Even Liu Guoliang was rumored to have been "fired".
Invisibly, Cai Zhenhua, who has retired, became the biggest winner.
In August 2022, Gou Zhongwen left the General Administration of Sport.
At that time, many people thought he had successfully retired.
After all, during his tenure, our delegation achieved quite good results in the Tokyo Olympics and the Beijing Winter Olympics.
However, the brilliant achievements of the two Olympics would not allow him to escape the sharp blade of anti-corruption.
Now thinking about it, Gou Zhongwen's downfall was not unexpected.
When Li Tie was investigated, some people speculated that there was a "big fish" lurking.
Unexpectedly, Gou Zhongwen is this "big fish", becoming the highest-ranking official to fall in the field of Chinese sports.
The one who competed with Gou Zhongwen for the position of director of the Sports General Administration was Cai Zhenhua.
If we talk about the history of the national table tennis team, Cai Zhenhua is definitely an important milestone figure.
Although his athletic record was not outstanding, he rose to management and discovered a large number of talents.
Liu Guoliang, Kong Linghui, Ma Lin, Wang Hao and other top players are all his proud disciples.
It can be said that the national table tennis team can achieve such brilliant results in recent years, and Cai Zhenhua deserves great credit.
As a result, many people think that Liu Guoliang is just eating the old capital left by Cai Zhenhua.
After leaving the national table tennis team, Cai Zhenhua took over the national football team and discovered excellent players such as Sun Jihai and Zheng Zhi.
Moreover, he remained untainted and withdrew from the national football team, which is a big dye vat, which is admirable.
It can be said that he has made outstanding contributions to China's sports cause.
However, in the process of competing for the position of director of the Sports General Administration, he actually lost to Gou Zhongwen, who was not from the sports field.
These two people don't get along well, it's no longer a secret.
And the event they have in common is a dark history of the national table tennis team - the June 23 strike.
Not many people know the detailed inside story of the national table tennis team's June 23 strike.
As an onlooker, we only know the result, not the process, and saying more may be "rumor".
Ever since the Paris Olympics ended, He Xiaolong has been at odds with the national table tennis team.
He frantically typed on the keyboard and commented on almost every member of the national table tennis team.
Now, he has also mentioned the strike incident back then.
In 2017, newly appointed Gou Zhongwen reformed the national table tennis team.
He abolished the head coach positions of the men's and women's teams of the national table tennis team.
Liu Guoliang, who was serving as the head coach of the national table tennis team at the time, was transferred to serve as the vice chairman of the Table Tennis Association.
However, there were as many as 22 vice chairmen of the Table Tennis Association at that time.
As a result, Liu Guoliang was obviously marginalized.
On the surface, Liu Guoliang's dismissal as head coach was the spark that ignited the strike.
But He Xiaolong doesn't think so. He thinks the national table tennis team's strike is aimed at Cai Zhenhua.
The reason why the national table tennis team dared to strike is because Cai Zhenhua lost power in the internal struggle with Gou Zhongwen, and the national table tennis team has Gou Zhongwen's support.
Two months before the General Administration announced the abolition of the head coach position, during the competitive employment process of the national table tennis coaching team, Cai Zhenhua, knowing the plan of the General Administration, replaced Liu Guoliang's concurrently held position as head coach of the men's team, making Liu Guoliang's position awkward.
After Liu Guoliang was removed as head coach, the usually obedient national table tennis team began to make discordant sounds.
On June 23, 2017, the ITTF World Tour China Station was in full swing.
Ma Long, Xu Xin, Fan Zhendong and other players, as well as Ma Lin, Qin Zhijian and other coaches spontaneously went on strike to protest.
What are they protesting?
They voiced their opinions on social media:
"We have no intention of fighting... just because we miss you, Liu Guoliang!"
The strike incident caused a sensation on the Internet.
At first, people said that the national table tennis team was "loyal and noble".
But later, people realized.
A large number of media public opinion criticized the national table tennis team, saying that this was "clique consciousness" and "fan culture".
After the incident escalated, the members who participated in the strike forwarded the official "Apology Letter" of the Table Tennis Association on social media.
The strike incident has also become one of the few black histories in the careers of Ma Long, Xu Xin, and Fan Zhendong.
Because no matter how you look at it, the strike is a stain.
National table tennis, national table tennis, what is important is the "country" in front, how can it be turned into Liu Guoliang's "private" table tennis?
But then again, after the strike, Liu Guoliang was entrusted with another important task and became the chairman of the Table Tennis Association in December 2018.
And in September 2018, Cai Zhenhua was transferred away from the General Administration of Sport.
Such a timeline can't help but make people think wildly.
He Xiaolong thinks that Liu Guoliang has Gou Zhongwen's backing.
And now that Gou Zhongwen has fallen, he judged that Liu Guoliang had already been fired.
However, he also patched up his words, saying "just a personal judgment".
And Liu Guoliang no longer kept silent and attended an interview with CCTV.
On the very evening when He Xiaolong declared that "Liu Guoliang has already been fired,"
CCTV publicly reported the 2024 National Sports Director's Conference, and Liu Guoliang was interviewed as the chairman of the Table Tennis Association.
His attendance at such an important meeting dispelled the rumors of his dismissal.
In the interview, Liu Guoliang looked forward to the future of Luoao and said that the national table tennis team would make a "big move".
After the Baao, people generally worried about the echelon construction of the national table tennis team.
And Liu Guoliang said that in the new Olympic cycle, young players will be given more opportunities to compete.
It seems that the national table tennis team is also focusing on cultivating new talents and carrying out echelon construction.
Over the years, Liu Guoliang has always been controversial.
Although the national table tennis team achieved brilliant results during his tenure, quite a few people think that he was just eating the old capital left by Cai Zhenhua.
Some people even think that it was Liu Guoliang who accelerated the process of the national table tennis team's fan culture.
Why?
Because Liu Guoliang is keen on hype, and the "three musketeers of the national table tennis team" were hyped up.
Everyone says to resist "fan culture", but "fan culture" is actually cultivated by the national table tennis team itself.
The prevalence of "fan culture" is extremely detrimental to the healthy development of the national table tennis team.
And Liu Guoliang has an inescapable responsibility for this.
Liu Guoliang can even unite the national table tennis fans, who are extremely serious about the fan circle, into a united front - because almost all ping pong fans want to scold him.
Once upon a time, "Does this little fat man understand table tennis?" It might just be teasing, but now it has really become a question.
In short, in terms of reputation, Liu Guoliang is far inferior to Cai Zhenhua.
And in terms of contribution to the national table tennis team, Cai Zhenhua is no less than Liu Guoliang.
Even the former competitor Gou Zhongwen has fallen.
The golden cup and the silver cup are not as good as the people's reputation, and what Cai Zhenhua lacks most is reputation.
Wearing a crown requires bearing its weight.
Cai Zhenhua can obviously bear the praise of the people.
In this situation, who wouldn't say that Cai Zhenhua is the biggest winner?
Some references:
CCTV News Gou Zhongwen was expelled from the party
The Supreme People's Procuratorate | Gou Zhongwen was arrested
People's Daily Online Review | Rational expression of demands is the right way
People's Daily Online | Spokesperson of the General Administration of Sport: The withdrawal of the men's table tennis team was extremely wrong, and we firmly oppose it