Describe about the Chinas Olympic Table Tennis Domination.
In the current times, sports are not only limited to entertainment, but also have become a source of business or financial gain. Table tennis has increasingly become popular thus creating an avenue for gross sports misconduct as it paves way for corruption. Across the globe, International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) governs table tennis since its establishment in 1926. When China invited the US, England, Canada and Colombia for table tennis friendly matches in 1971, the ping pong diplomacy was created. Since the ping pong diplomacy, table tennis has gained a massive following in the sporting field. Furthermore, the game received immense attention in the 1988 Olympic Games (Keh & Quealy, 2016). Sports corruption is not a new thing but rather has been in existence for a quite a prolonged period of time. Sports corruption takes different forms, including, point shaving, match fixing, doping, vote rigging, undue influence, embezzlement, and bribery. In table tennis, due to globalization and business interests the game has attracted the following prolific forms of corruption:
This report expansively discusses the most prolific forms of corruption in table tennis while also reviewing the likely emergent form of corruption in table tennis.
1. Fixing the Match
When the outcome of a given match is influenced by organizers, that match is said to be fixed. Match-fixing is most common sports corruption. There are various reasons as to why this malpractice is practiced, including making sure that certain teams, individuals advance to glory or next step and for gambling purposes. Match fixing is regarded as the biggest malpractice in organized sport (Keh & Quealy, 2016). Match fixing occurs mainly when a referee or a player deliberately performs poorly during a sporting contest to ensure that one competing entity draws or loses. A match played to wholly or partially pre-determined outcomes while violating the set rules and regulations of the game. Asian countries pay great attention to table tennis as compared to European countries and the USA.
For instance, China has won major medals in table tennis Olympic Games except1992 and 2004. Similarly, China is globally renowned for its continued massive table tennis fixing since 1961. For instance, in 1961, the country’s authorities wanted young and dynamic personalities to represent the country’s image. In this regard, Zhuang Zedong was declared a champion in table tennis. Similarly, in 1981Cao Yanhua was coerced to accept a decision against her because she was regarded as an attitude and obedient player at the time. Consequently, there has been wide publicity about table tennis fixing whereby either a player of a coach accepted predetermined match outcomes.
In the 2012 London Olympic Games, for instance, Liu Guoliang a Chinese table tennis head coach ordered Wang Wang Hao to lose against Zhang Jike in the men’s singles. The main reason for this was to ensure that Zhang Jike completes his Grand Slam title. The couch fixed the match in a manner that Wang Hao was to be defeated in a five set match (18-16, 11-5, 11-6, 10-12, and 13-11) thus making Zhang Jike the fastest player to achieve such victory (VisceSport, 2015). The coach Liu Guoliang has recently admitted to have fixed the match; he gave Wang Hao an order to lose the match for pride, “Hao you must do well, lose to Zhang Jike for pride. You must adjust this attitude as you have Wang Hao have a role.”
According to Federbet, some non-governmental organisations in Belgium have been involved in table tennis corruption where they identified six suspicious matches in the last 12 months. Furthermore, Federbet also discovered suspicious table tennis match in the Olympic tournaments qualification that featured Stanislav Golovanv, Bulgarian, who had earlier been involved in questionable Austrian Bundesliga matches (Harris, 2013).
Corruption in table tennis is not only tied to fixed matches, but also in events where the referee is influenced through bribery to favor one player against the other thus altering the overall outcome of the match. In the article “Tennis Has Always Been Corrupt” the author brings to light significant claims that tennis matches are fixed by gamblers. Furthermore, “the Plus:Asian Games; China Alleges Bribery Attempt” article also discusses how the Asian table tennis games were rocked with bribery scandal (Associated Press, 2016). The articles claims that table tennis agents approached players as well as match officials with money in order to influence them sink the games. The article goes ahead to warn all 41 nations about the dangers of bribery.
According to USA today sports, luminaries in table tennis have been involved in suspicious gaming practices. For instance, the article reported that tennis players across the world have been accused of tanking games matches and points for financial gains due to massive pressure from gambling organisations (Associated Press, 2016). For instance, the match between Martin Vassallo Arguello and Nikolay Davydenko, they did not play to their potential for financial gains and despite everybody’s knowledge of their point tanking, the two were cleared of any match misconduct (Olison, 2010). Accordingly, after BBC reported about Novak Djokovic point tanking, the latter admitted to have been offered $200,000 to tank the 2006 match. The urge for financial gains has compelled table tennis players to do the unthinkable, according to Xinhua (2016), “about 80% of the international players are playing with rackets which do not conform to the rules of the ITTF, the rubbers are treated with chemicals to increase the catapult effect when hitting, this not only applies for Chinese players but also for Europeans as well as other Asians.” Like any other sporting activities, table tennis has also been influenced by the urge to gain money as well as influenced by political factors.
Since table tennis was adopted in China in early twentieth century, the sport has received significant political support and influence. The late 1920s so various table tennis competitions together with table tennis demonstration events arranged (Associated Press, 2016). However, it was until 1935 that the country established its Chinese Table Tennis Association (CTTA). Political support for the sport was first experienced inn1920s when the Chinese National Party embraced the table tennis as they viewed the game as part of strengthening the nation while at the same time helping the country forge international alliances (Goh, 2016). Accordingly, the Communist Party also found that table tennis was a essential avenue for presenting their struggles and ideas and thus wanted table tennis to embody the party’s ideologies together with the guerilla campaigns. In this regard, the Communist Party attached great significance to table tennis not only as an avenue for strengthening the Chinese, but also as a political tool essential for unifying the nation and presentation of newly founded People’s Republic of China (PRC) (Chase, 2016). Following this understanding, the official government created the National Sports Commission in 1952. Table Tennis was immediately considered as a national sport in 1952 but confirmed as a national sport in 1959 (Goh, 2016).
The Chinese government has since been on the forefront to gain global glory through table tennis, for instance, representatives of China are government funded to participate in international table tennis competitions. Furthermore, the ping pong diplomacy is another major leap in China’s table tennis that the Chinese government to re-examine the status of table tennis in PRC. This helped Zhuang Zedong to win men’s singles titles in a row rising to become the world champion in 1965 (Clearinghouse for Sport, 2016). In his own words Zhuang declared that playing table tennis was a revolutionary endeavor serving the interests of the people and rather not an opportunity to show off (Kevin, 2013). This is a clear indication the People’s Republic of China was fully committed to supporting the sport because it was politically important. Similarly, the international competition success accompanied with the active support of the Communist Part made the interests of table tennis to prosper across the nation (Clearinghouse for Sport, 2016).
The ping pong diplomacy still plays a major role in table tennis as well as in the current Chinese politics. China used table tennis for various different diplomatic occasions and purposes. For example, Zhuang Zedong, was ordered not to play the Cambodian player in support for the overthrown Cambodian government. Accordingly, the Chinese team was purposely expected to lose a few matches to the North Koreans and the Japanese to make them not lose face, a sign that would exhibit PRC’s goodwill (DeVoss, 2002). However, the Chinese team leader did not understand the politics behind the order, and advised the team play their best and the team won every match against the Japanese and North Koreans thus immensely decreasing their chances in the tournament. The Chinese government did not lightly consider this matter and the entire team members were widely criticized upon their arrival back home. Furthermore, Zhou Enlai, a Chinese government official later met the North Korean Officials he expressed the government’s regrets for what had happened and later an official delegation was sent to North Korea to apologize (DeVoss, 2002).
Over the years there have been rising cases of lack of transparency in the game of tennis in China. The once considered high-powered and multibillion-pound game is now sweating due to the lack of transparency as sponsors are being swayed away by the latest claims of skulduggery. Activities such as match fixing, suspicious betting patterns, lack of integrity among players and officials, drug doping, lack of a clear selection procedure for players joining the national team, lack of clear payment procedures for players and officials and lack of clear financial records. These acts in the recent past have affected the overall performance of the players in the world arena. In some cases players have not been selected basing on merit but on whom they know and what they can offer. The selected players lack morale as their allowances are not paid on time due to corruption. However, the tennis body has come up with measures to address the vice in the sport. For instance, over 23,000 players have received mandatory anti-corruption education (Calligeros, 2016). There are penalty measures also put on place to punish players and officials who are tempted to transgress as a way to deter players and officials from corrupt dealings. Some have proposed life bans for anyone caught in acts that are not transparent such as match fixing (TableTennisDaily, 2016). Similarly, in some instances, there is little or no-transparency in officiating table tennis matches; some officials have a notion that participants from China are more skilled than the rest of the world and thus simply take no keen interest in ensuring that the rules and regulations of the game are strictly adhered to (Newshaw, 2016).
Conclusion
Sports corruption has been in existence for quite a prolonged period of time. Corruption in table is among the highest sports corruption in the world. According to the discussion above, corruption in sports can take different forms including fixing the match, bribing the decision maker, financial and political influence, and less transparency. This report citing different examples has provided an in-depth analysis of how table tennis is stinking with massive corruption. For instance, the report identifies the Chinese heavily involved in table tennis fixing. In all major international tournaments, the Chinese have emerged victorious not only because of their mastery of skills but also because of influencing the final outcomes of the game. Since the times of ping pong diplomacy, the country has taken the game as one of major events of upholding its prestige in the global arena and thus will do all it takes to make sure that it comes on the top. In the same breadth, couches as well as player s have been influenced to tank points and matches in order to meet the desires of a few unscrupulous individuals, especially un-ethical gamblers.
References
Keh, A. and Quealy, K. (2016). At least 44 Table Tennis Players in Rio Are Chinese-Born. Six Play for China. [Online] from: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/18/sports/olympics/at-least-44-table-tennis-players-in-rio-are-chinese-born-six-play-for-china.html?_r=0
Associated Press (2016). Can China’s Olympic table tennis domination be stopped? [online] From: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-3681994/Can-Chinas-Olympic-table-tennis-domination-stopped.html
Brenda Goh (2016) Table Tennis: Another Chinese sweep complete with men’s team win. [Online] from: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-rio-tabletennis-m-team-idUSKCN10T08R
Chris Chase (2016) After BBC Bombshell, Novak Djokovic admits he was offered $200,000 to tank 2006 match. [Online] retrieved from: https://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/01/tennis-match-fixing-bbc-buzzfeed-gambling-story-novak-djokovic-bribe-danydenko-evidence-proof-who-on-list
Clearinghouse for sport (2016) Match-fixing and illegal sports betting. [Online] from: https://www.clearinghouseforsport.gov.au/knowledge_base/organised_sport/sport_integrity/match-fixing_and_illegal_sports_betting
David A. DeVoss (2002) Ping-Pong Diplomacy. [Online] Retrieved from: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/ping-pong-diplomacy-60307544/?no-ist
Kevin D (2013) Unsporting Conduct – Improperly Determining a winner and Bribery. [Online] from: https://blogs.magicjudges.org/whatsupdocs/2013/11/01/unsporting-conduct-improperly-determining-a-winner-and-bribery/
Calligeros, M. (2016). Australian Open: Tennis rocked by allegations of widespread match fixing among top players. [Online] from: https://www.smh.com.au/sport/tennis/australian-open-tennis-rocked-by-allegations-of-widespread-matchfixing-among-top-players-20160117-gm7y9s.html
Newshaw, M (2016) Tennis Has Always Been Corrupt. [Online] from: https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/30/tennis-has-always-been-corrupt.html
Harris, N (2013) Match –Fixing experts fear corruption stars will be playing at Wimbledon. [Online] frorm: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-2338054/Match-fixing-experts-fear-corrupt-tennis-players-playing-Wimbledon-Championships.html
Olison N. V.(2010) Ping-Pong Politic. [Online] from: https://www.ittf.com/museum/ping%20pong%20politics.pdf
TableTennisDaily (2016) London Olympics Match Fixing Revealed. [Onlin] retrieved from: https://www.tabletennisdaily.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?9013-London-Olympics-Match-Fixing-Revealed
The Telegraph (2016) Tennis rocked by expensive match-fixing claims. [Online] from: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/12104779/Tennis-rocked-by-explosive-match-fixing-claims.html (The Telegraph, 2016)
Vice sports (2015) The Rise of Table Tennis and Ping Pong Diplomacy. [Online]. Retrieved from: https://sports.vice.com/en_uk/article/the-rise-of-table-tennis-and-ping-pong-diplomacy
Xinhua (2016) Table tennis chief slams “doped rubbers” accusations. [online] Retrieved from: https://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-02/26/c_135133089.htm
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