Why is the outgoing Liu Guoliang still caught in the rumor storm, and what is the deep-seated reason behind it?

Liu Guoliang, who resigned as chairman of the Chinese Table Tennis Association not long ago, was on the hot search again, but this time it was once again related to his negative rumors. In the context of the national table tennis is about to compete in the 2025 Doha World Table Tennis Championships, at this time, false content suddenly spread on the Internet, which naturally aroused the attention of the Chinese Table Tennis Association. The Chinese Table Tennis Association immediately stated its position and resolutely resisted malicious rumors. He also bluntly said that on the eve of the World Table Tennis Championships and the International Table Tennis Federation election, such malicious rumors to smear the image of Chinese table tennis will have an impact on the team's preparations, and the team will strive to minimize the impact.

Liu Guoliang (right) resigned as chairman of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, and Wang Liqin took over

Now the question is, why Liu Guoliang is always attacked by rumors. This is not the first time he has been on the hot search because of negative rumors such as "arrested" and "involved in corruption". Fans are more impressed by the fact that in March 2023, Liu Guoliang's apprentice and Chinese table tennis Olympic champion Zhang Jike was suspected of gambling debts and used his ex-girlfriend's private photos to pay off the debts, causing a storm on the Chinese Internet. During the same period, there was also news on the Internet that Liu Guoliang was taken away for investigation on suspicion of match-fixing, but the rumors were quickly clarified by the International Table Tennis Federation, and Liu Guoliang's later re-election as chairman of the Chinese Table Tennis Association was also interpreted as a "self-defeating" rumor of investigation. As we all know, table tennis is China's national sport, and the Chinese table tennis team has also "brought its own traffic" for a long time by virtue of its consistent excellent results and special status. As the core figure of China's table tennis industry, Liu Guoliang has been in the center of public opinion for a long time, and it is necessary to analyze the reasons why he is frequently troubled by rumors from both subjective and objective aspects, so that it is possible to find out.

Liu Guoliang is China's first World Table Tennis Championships, World Cup and Olympic Men's Singles "Grand Slam" winner, after retiring in 2002, he became the coach of the men's team of the Chinese national table tennis team, and concurrently served as the head coach of the Chinese table tennis team from 2013 until the team structure was changed in 2017 and the position of head coach was abolished. Liu Guoliang "made a comeback" in September 2018 as the leader of the leading group of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, and was unanimously elected as the chairman of the 9th Chinese Table Tennis Association in December of the same year. In April 2025, the Chinese Table Tennis Association suddenly announced that Liu Guoliang took the initiative to resign as chairman. He is currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the WTT World Table Tennis Federation and the First Vice President of the International Table Tennis Federation. It can be seen that Liu Guoliang's career has undergone many identity changes: from athlete to head coach of the national team, chairman of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, to vice president of the International Table Tennis Federation, chairman of the board of directors of the WTT World Table Tennis Federation, etc. These changes are often interpreted as signals of "power struggles" or "exclusion". In addition, the reform of the selection system of the Chinese Table Tennis Association is also considered to be the "de-Liu Guoliang" of its influence, which is based on speculation caused by position changes and power changes, and exacerbates the outside world's association with its situation.

Liu Guoliang's dual role in the ITTF and WTT requires a balance between the interests of the Chinese table tennis team and international affairs, and this dual identity is easy to raise questions. Now that he has stepped down as president of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, public opinion has turned to how he will continue to lead the reform of WTT – whether to embrace the market and business more firmly, or to seek a better balance between commercialization and athletes' rights. Previously, Liu Guoliang, who served as the chairman of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, played the triangle alone, which inevitably involved conflicts of interest. At the end of last year, the Paris Olympic table tennis men's singles champion Fan Zhendong and the women's singles champion Chen Meng refused to accept the WTT's "fine if you miss the game" policy due to physical and mental exhaustion, and chose to withdraw from the world rankings, which caused an uproar. However, when Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng withdrew from the world rankings, together with another general Ma Long, also made the same application, setting off huge public opinion, Liu Guoliang was interviewed as the chairman of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, pointing out that "WTT regulations are debatable", expressing support for athletes to defend their rights, isn't this a slap in the face?

In the international competitive environment, this point is also easy to be exploited by opponents, and even invisibly amplified, especially on the eve of the 2025 ITTF presidential election, it cannot be ruled out that some people will try to interfere with its international image through "false information". Of course, some people have talked about Liu Guoliang's management style. The 2018 document of the General Administration of Sports of the People's Republic of China mentioned the issue of "mountain culture", although Liu Guoliang was not named, but the outside world linked it to the personnel changes of the national table tennis coaching staff (such as the departure of Qin Zhijian and Ma Lin) and questioned his nepotism. Such allegations lack direct evidence and are more based on over-association of personnel adjustments.

Rumors are not only a by-product of power change and conflict of interest, but also a manifestation of the flood of information and the negative impact of fan circle culture in the era of self-media. From coaching to taking charge of national table tennis, one of Liu Guoliang's important contributions is to vigorously promote the reform and commercialization of table tennis. He boldly introduced a market mechanism, encouraged players to participate in variety shows, took on advertisements, and turned the originally closed internal selection tournament into a high-profile "The Strongest 12 on the Surface" event. This move not only expands the influence of the players, but also shortens the distance between table tennis and the public. With the help of the fan economy, he successfully became popular with Zhang Jike, Ma Long, Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha and other table tennis stars. The "Internet celebrity" trend of himself and the national table tennis team has attracted a large number of fans, but it has also brought extreme behaviors in the fan circle culture - some extreme fans have appeared chaotic phenomena such as "squatting on the spot", "stamping on the field" and "rumor-mongering attacks". Although Liu Guoliang has repeatedly called for rectification, the effect has been limited.

Liu Guoliang's high profile makes him an easier target, and some online media outlets distort facts or take quotes out of context in order to gain traffic. For example, a 2023 report by data agency Sportradar said that 62 table tennis matches involved match-fixing, but the ITTF clarified that the controversial event had nothing to do with its regulation and rebuked the self-media for fabricating information. When Wang Manyu and Ma Long did not qualify for the Olympic singles, fans attacked Liu Guoliang through conspiracy theories, and even submitted a "report letter" to the discipline inspection department, stigmatizing competitive decision-making as "suppressing players". This kind of behavior is detached from the facts and is only based on the subjective speculation of fans, but it has spread rapidly with the help of social media, forming a public opinion siege against Liu Guoliang.

In short, "if you want to wear its crown, you must bear its weight". In view of Liu Guoliang's influence in the international table tennis arena and the Chinese table tennis arena, his life model of moving forward amid praise and controversy may not change in the future. Looking at the Chinese sports scene, although the sports competitions are different, there are always similarities. For example, the new coach Zhao Yong is about to lead the new Chinese women's volleyball team to complete the first appearance of the Los Angeles Olympic cycle in this year's World Women's Volleyball League, which is also the first time he has been tested by the outside world after taking charge of the women's volleyball team. You must know that the coach of the Chinese women's volleyball team may be the most difficult job in Chinese sports, and the pressure on Zhao Yong's position is probably not much less than that of Liu Guoliang. It is reported that Liu Guoliang will go to Doha on May 21 to attend the meeting of the International Table Tennis Federation. We look forward to this self-deprecating "fat man who doesn't know how to play" to continue to lead the reform of WTT, and wish the national table tennis team in Doha to defend the glory of national football and create new glories.