On December 31st, the International Table Tennis Federation announced the latest world rankings, with Fan Zhendong, Chen Meng, and Ma Long officially withdrawing from the world rankings. This result has caused collective dissatisfaction among fans, who believe that the WTT World Table Tennis Association maliciously forced the three Olympic champions to retire, with strong criticism and questioning whether the WTT dares to release its financial report for 2024.
Specifically, the fans say: "So you're forcing out the Olympic champions who have won glory for the country, right?" "Has the financial report been released?" "2024 is over, when will the financial report be released so taxpayers can see who's making more than 100 million yuan per match?" It's clear that the fans are very angry, and it's hard for them to accept the departure of the three Olympic champions from the international arena!
Fan Zhendong, Ma Long, and Chen Meng are all superstars in table tennis, with a combined total of 13 Olympic gold medals. Fan Zhendong is also the first men's singles champion under the WTT event system's Grand Slam series. Such excellent top players are an indispensable factor in the commercialization path of the WTT World Table Tennis Association. It can be foreseen that Fan Zhendong, Ma Long, and Chen Meng's withdrawal from the world rankings and no longer participating in international competitions will cause table tennis events to lose attention, which means a decline in the commercial value of the events, and even the ticket sales situation will be affected.
Among the three who withdrew, only 36-year-old Ma Long is at the end of his career and belongs to a normal retirement. Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng are both abnormal, with one being 27 years old and the other 30 years old, both still in their absolute prime. Chen Meng is just one World Table Tennis Championship women's singles title away from unlocking the Grand Slam, and there is a World Table Tennis Championship individual event in 2025. At this time, withdrawing from the world rankings will have a significant impact on Chen Meng!
However, the main purpose of the athletes is to speak up for themselves. In the case of not wanting to participate in international competitions temporarily but not wanting to be fined continuously, they can only propose to withdraw from the world rankings. The WTT World Table Tennis Association's penalty system for athletes missing matches is unacceptable to Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng. After withdrawing from the WTT Singapore Grand Slam, both Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng were fined $5,000. If they do not participate in any matches for a year, they can be fined up to 1.64 million yuan, which is a huge sum for a table tennis athlete.
Not considering the actual situation of the athletes is the biggest problem of the World Table Tennis Association. Only pursuing commercialization and money-making, high-density schedules, and unreasonable penalty systems are what led to Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng's withdrawal from the world rankings! Athletes' rights need to be protected, and without athletes, competitions cannot be held!
