(ECNS) -- The Chinese national table tennis team has decided to disband all official fan groups on all social media platforms to manage fandom mess, China Sport Daily reported on Saturday.
Chinese Table Tennis Association (CTTA) and coaches, athletes, and staff of the Chinese national table tennis team said abnormal fan culture has impacted the sports negatively in a long term, seriously disturbing the training and life of athletes, smearing the image of the national table tennis team, and causing unnecessary pressure and cyber violence to some players and even their families .
Table tennis athlete Wang Chuqin disbanded his fan groups on Jan. 15 this year. Many athletes of the Chinese national badminton team such as Wang Chang, Liang Weijian, and He Jiting have also disbanded fan groups on Jan. 11.
Previously, both Wang Chuqin and Wang Chang have called for fans to be rational after being mobbed by them in public places like airport.
"I will devote myself more attentively to daily training and competitions and earnestly do my job as an athlete. I have officially disbanded the fan group," Wang Chuqin voiced in the Saturday report for the fandom mess resistance campaign.
Sun Yingsha, an Olympic mixed doubles gold medalist who has a huge number of fans, called her fans to focus more on competition and performance. "Going all out and striving for the country is my mission... Please focus more on the competitions and our performances on the court," Sun said.
Some athletes, such as swimmer Pan Zhanle and tennis star Zheng Qinwen, have already disbanded their fan groups, in August and November respectively.
The General Administration of Sport of China has held meetings to rectify fandom mess since last year. Last week, it convened again, stressing that managing fan culture in the field of sports is an urgent task that need to be put into practice as soon as possible.
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