China's Olympic champion Fan Zhendong revealed on Sunday that he was not officially informed in advance about the fines imposed by the World Table Tennis (WTT) for skipping tournaments in recent months.
His statement conflicts with WTT's claim that the rules had been in place since its inception four years ago.
Fan, who secured gold medals in men’s singles and men’s team events at the Paris Olympics earlier this year, stated on Friday that he could not afford to pay the penalties for missing WTT-sanctioned tournaments.
Following the announcement, both Fan and Chen Meng, women’s singles and team gold medalist at the Paris Olympics, declared their withdrawal from the WTT circuit and the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) rankings.
On Saturday, the WTT defended its stance, emphasizing that its regulations were neither new nor inconsistent.
“We deeply respect the contributions of Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng, two icons who have inspired countless fans and athletes worldwide,” the statement read.
“These regulations, which include automatic entry for players ranked in the global standings, have been in place since WTT's inception four years ago.”
However, the WTT statement ignited a wave of criticism on Chinese social media platform Weibo. Fans accused the organization of unfair treatment and lack of clarity regarding the fines.
In a Weibo post on Sunday, Fan clarified his position, claiming he was informed that the penalty regulations would only take effect in 2025.
"I am not sure when the relevant content of punishing non-participating players first appeared, but I am sure that I have never been officially informed that I will be fined for withdrawing from the competition," the 27-year-old wrote.
"I received the official notice last week, saying that WTT will strictly implement the latest penalty regulations starting next year.
Fan added that he received an official notice from WTT last week, stating that the fines would be strictly enforced starting next year.
“I received the document on Monday this week and signed and submitted it on the same day,” he explained.
The ITTF, which established WTT in 2019, has yet to respond to media inquiries about the controversy.
Fan’s last WTT appearance was in June, and he did not participate in the WTT Finals in Japan in November.