Three Chinese table tennis stars, Fan Zhendong, Ma Long, and Chen Meng, have withdrawn from international rankings and competitions. The athletes, who are also Olympic gold medalists, cited the need for time to adjust physically and mentally after the Olympics. Rob Koehler, Director General of Global Athlete spoke to CGTN Europe, calling for a complete overhaul of sports governing bodies to better support athletes.
Category
🎵
MusicTranscript
00:00These three Chinese players have withdrawn from the sport's world rankings and international competitions.
00:05This all comes after a row over fines for missing tournaments.
00:09Our correspondent Siobhan McCall has been following the story.
00:14Yes, Fan Zhendong, Ma Long and Chen Meng are three of China's most iconic sports stars
00:19and they all won gold at the Paris Olympics last summer.
00:23Fan says the Olympics took a lot out of him psychologically.
00:27In the rest of his message on Weibo, he added that World Table Tennis had recently introduced fines
00:32for not playing in their competitions and players can't afford this so he'll be withdrawing.
00:37He does say he won't be retiring though.
00:40While Chen Meng, the women's singles champion, then put up a similar post.
00:44She again referred to the intensity of the Olympics and how she needed time to adjust her physical condition.
00:51While Ma Long is China's most successful ever Olympian,
00:55he hasn't commented on withdrawing but his name is also no longer on the rankings
01:00and he was ranked eighth in November.
01:02So it could be that he's retired but he only recently said he had no plans to do so.
01:08So what about World Table Tennis?
01:11Well, it said in a statement that it deeply respects the contributions of Fan and Chen
01:15but the rules are not new and they came in four years ago.
01:19It added that they are intended to preserve the integrity of the sport.
01:23Well, Fan hit back and said he only received official confirmation last week
01:28and that the rules would be enforced from 2025 and not 2024.
01:34Well, the row adds to growing calls from elite level athletes that they are facing too heavy schedules.
01:40In football, the players union is suing world governing body FIFA over neglect of player welfare
01:47because of the number of games they have to play.
01:49One of tennis's top players, Carlos Alcaraz, also recently said that the tight schedule
01:55increases the risk of injury and makes it difficult for players to stay motivated.
02:00And as Fan and Chen referenced, it's not just physical strain but mental too.
02:04The gymnast that many consider to be the greatest of all time, Simone Biles,
02:09sparked a global discussion about mental health when she withdrew from the Tokyo 2020 Games
02:14saying she had to focus on her mental well-being.
02:18Well, Rob Kaler is director general of Global Athlete, a movement by athletes for athletes.
02:24Rob, great to have you on the show.
02:26So because of job, I believe that you are aware of the biggest physical, mental and emotional pressures
02:32that athletes face today.
02:34So how do you think governing bodies can better support them?
02:38Yeah, I mean, I think sport needs a complete overhaul.
02:41You see here just earlier in tennis, in football, in badminton, where athletes are treated as commodities.
02:48So they're told exactly what they have to do, when they do it.
02:51And there's no equal partnership. Athletes are alone.
02:55Most of them live below poverty level and international federations really don't care
03:01when you look at the treating athletes, their well-being, their status in terms of their mental health.
03:07And that's why we've been calling for change for the past five years to demand that the international sport
03:13embrace and accept something called collective bargaining, where you negotiate,
03:18whether it's tournament schedules, whether it's income revenues,
03:22there needs to be a level playing field and an equal playing field and curling that doesn't exist.
03:27Sport brings all the money in, but they give very little to the athletes.
03:31And not only money, but they treat them, as I said, as commodities that are here today
03:36and will leave tomorrow, they'll just replace it with someone else.
03:39Sport needs to change immediately.
03:42And, you know, to use the saying of the IOC president, Thomas Bach, either change or be changed through force change.
03:49And I think that's what we're going to see in 2025,
03:52is athletes coming up and standing up and forming independent athlete groups to push the sports to adapt to a new world.
04:01And that has to happen.
04:02Rob, it's interesting you mentioned collective bargaining,
04:05and we know that many of the world famous athletes, they have really large followings and still.
04:11So there needs to be some changes to give athletes a stronger voice in decision making.
04:18It does, because the current method, when you look at, let's take International Federations or the International Olympic Committee,
04:24they set up these quasi-athlete groups or athlete committees that say they represent athletes of the world,
04:32which is just nothing further from the truth.
04:34These athletes go into these committees, they sign agreements where they must support the International Olympic Committee or the Federation's decisions.
04:41So there's really no independent or athlete group that's pushing for change.
04:45And that's where, you know, if you look at collective bargaining at all professional sport, and let's not be fooled.
04:51When you look at badminton, football, tennis, it's professional sport.
04:56These people are dedicating full time of their day and their weeks and years to compete and to bring in revenues from the sport.
05:04But they're not. And collective bargaining in every sense has yielded benefits in terms of player safety,
05:11better scheduling, and more compensation, both for athletes and the sport federations.
05:16And I think that's where, you know, the IOC and the International Sport is 30 years behind,
05:21and need to move into this century and start treating athletes as humans and protecting them, supporting them and compensating them.
05:30What other career goal would you go into to say you're not going to get paid?
05:34If you win, you may get paid for the next 15 years.
05:37That's going to be your life. I wouldn't take that job.
05:40So I think we need to start seeing things change and athletes treated better.
05:43Yeah, right. There is still a lot to do.
05:45Thank you very much for your insights and answers. Rob Kaler, Director General of Global Athletes.