The arrest of a woman after allegedly making comments against Olympic table tennis players and coaches on social media has caused a stir in China, following the match-fixing controversy between the current president of the Chinese Table Tennis Association (CTTA) and current vice president of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), Liu Guoliang.

These accusations of match-fixing in Chinese national sport have been dragging on since the 2012 London Olympics and, according to tabletenisdaily (a website specialising in sports), Liu Guoliang is once again involved in the controversy. The right-hand man of the ITTF president and IOC member, Petra Sörling, stated in an interview with Chinese TV that she had ordered Wang Hao to lose an Olympic final in 2012 against her compatriot Zhang Jike.

Currently, a large group of table tennis fans, mainly Chinese (@ttenniswatchdog), accuse Liu of unethical behavior that has allowed him to manipulate table tennis for financial gain. This agglomeration of fans handed over a series of documents that show an alleged arrangement between the ITTF and the IOC.

This documentation gives the example of Chen Meng, current Olympic gold medalist in Paris 2024 and number 1 in the ITTF rankings, who would have qualified for the Olympic event in France at the expense of Wang Manyu, also giving as an example the results of the Chinese players in the qualifying tournament, which would indicate match manipulation.

The choice of Chen Meng over his compatriot is due to the interests that Liu has in the Shandong province, where the current Olympic champion comes from, such as some business that they would have done with the local authorities.

The ITTF has terminated its relationship with Sportradar, which ranked table tennis as the number three sport in 2023 as the sport with the most suspicious matches after a study carried out by them.

ITTF Communications Director Tristan Lavier has answered some questions about this accusation: “It is important to clarify that the selection of athletes for the Olympic Games falls under the exclusive authority of the National Olympic Committees. The ITTF is aware of the deception expressed by some fans regarding the selection decisions of certain NOCs. Any such allegations, when duly substantiated, have been investigated by the ITTF Integrity Unit.”

The ITTF Integrated Unit is an independent department that is committed to maintaining the integrity of table tennis by ensuring that the sport remains fair, safe and clean.