00:00These three Chinese players have withdrawn from the sport's world rankings and international competitions.
00:05This all comes after a row over fines for missing tournaments.
00:09Our correspondent Siobhan McCall has been following the story.
00:14Yes, Fan Zhendong, Ma Long and Chen Meng are three of China's most iconic sports stars
00:19and they all won gold at the Paris Olympics last summer.
00:23Fan says the Olympics took a lot out of him psychologically.
00:27In the rest of his message on Weibo, he added that World Table Tennis had recently introduced fines
00:32for not playing in their competitions and players can't afford this so he'll be withdrawing.
00:37He does say he won't be retiring though.
00:40While Chen Meng, the women's singles champion, then put up a similar post.
00:44She again referred to the intensity of the Olympics and how she needed time to adjust her physical condition.
00:51While Ma Long is China's most successful ever Olympian,
00:55he hasn't commented on withdrawing but his name is also no longer on the rankings
01:00and he was ranked eighth in November.
01:02So it could be that he's retired but he only recently said he had no plans to do so.
01:08So what about World Table Tennis?
01:11Well, it said in a statement that it deeply respects the contributions of Fan and Chen
01:15but the rules are not new and they came in four years ago.
01:19It added that they are intended to preserve the integrity of the sport.
01:23Well, Fan hit back and said he only received official confirmation last week
01:28and that the rules would be enforced from 2025 and not 2024.
01:34Well, the row adds to growing calls from elite level athletes that they are facing too heavy schedules.
01:40In football, the players union is suing world governing body FIFA over neglect of player welfare
01:47because of the number of games they have to play.
01:49One of tennis's top players, Carlos Alcaraz, also recently said that the tight schedule
01:55increases the risk of injury and makes it difficult for players to stay motivated.
02:00And as Fan and Chen referenced, it's not just physical strain but mental too.
02:04The gymnast that many consider to be the greatest of all time, Simone Biles,
02:09sparked a global discussion about mental health when she withdrew from the Tokyo 2020 Games
02:14saying she had to focus on her mental well-being.
02:18Well, Rob Kaler is director general of Global Athlete, a movement by athletes for athletes.
02:24Rob, great to have you on the show.
02:26So because of job, I believe that you are aware of the biggest physical, mental and emotional pressures
02:32that athletes face today.
02:34So how do you think governing bodies can better support them?
02:38Yeah, I mean, I think sport needs a complete overhaul.
02:41You see here just earlier in tennis, in football, in badminton, where athletes are treated as commodities.
02:48So they're told exactly what they have to do, when they do it.
02:51And there's no equal partnership. Athletes are alone.
02:55Most of them live below poverty level and international federations really don't care
03:01when you look at the treating athletes, their well-being, their status in terms of their mental health.
03:07And that's why we've been calling for change for the past five years to demand that the international sport
03:13embrace and accept something called collective bargaining, where you negotiate,
03:18whether it's tournament schedules, whether it's income revenues,
03:22there needs to be a level playing field and an equal playing field and curling that doesn't exist.
03:27Sport brings all the money in, but they give very little to the athletes.
03:31And not only money, but they treat them, as I said, as commodities that are here today
03:36and will leave tomorrow, they'll just replace it with someone else.
03:39Sport needs to change immediately.
03:42And, you know, to use the saying of the IOC president, Thomas Bach, either change or be changed through force change.
03:49And I think that's what we're going to see in 2025,
03:52is athletes coming up and standing up and forming independent athlete groups to push the sports to adapt to a new world.
04:01And that has to happen.
04:02Rob, it's interesting you mentioned collective bargaining,
04:05and we know that many of the world famous athletes, they have really large followings and still.
04:11So there needs to be some changes to give athletes a stronger voice in decision making.
04:18It does, because the current method, when you look at, let's take International Federations or the International Olympic Committee,
04:24they set up these quasi-athlete groups or athlete committees that say they represent athletes of the world,
04:32which is just nothing further from the truth.
04:34These athletes go into these committees, they sign agreements where they must support the International Olympic Committee or the Federation's decisions.
04:41So there's really no independent or athlete group that's pushing for change.
04:45And that's where, you know, if you look at collective bargaining at all professional sport, and let's not be fooled.
04:51When you look at badminton, football, tennis, it's professional sport.
04:56These people are dedicating full time of their day and their weeks and years to compete and to bring in revenues from the sport.
05:04But they're not. And collective bargaining in every sense has yielded benefits in terms of player safety,
05:11better scheduling, and more compensation, both for athletes and the sport federations.
05:16And I think that's where, you know, the IOC and the International Sport is 30 years behind,
05:21and need to move into this century and start treating athletes as humans and protecting them, supporting them and compensating them.
05:30What other career goal would you go into to say you're not going to get paid?
05:34If you win, you may get paid for the next 15 years.
05:37That's going to be your life. I wouldn't take that job.
05:40So I think we need to start seeing things change and athletes treated better.
05:43Yeah, right. There is still a lot to do.
05:45Thank you very much for your insights and answers. Rob Kaler, Director General of Global Athletes.
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