By staff reporter ZHANG XIWEN

THE expulsion from the China National Diving Team of Tian Liang, 25-year-old diving champion of two Olympiads, early this year caused a storm of controversy across China. It brought to light the quandary contemporary Chinese athletes face, caught as they are in transition between the old-style planned economy sports management mechanism and a more commercial environment engendered by the market economy.

A Sina.com survey on 60,000 netizens earlier this year showed 52 percent of respondents as being in agreement with Tian Liang’s punishment, and 36 percent that considered it unduly severe. As to the fundamental reason for his dismissal from the team, 41 percent attributed it to the athlete’s failure to withstand commercial temptation, while 40 percent blamed it on the general lack of guidelines for athletes’ participation in commercial activities.

“The Tian Liang affair highlights the conflict between the rigid management mode of the State Sports General Administration (SSGA) and athletes’ personal interests,” says Guan Jun, longstanding researcher of China’s sports systems and sports competitions. “I hope the waves that Tian Liang has created help to melt away some of the constraints of the old sports system.”

Why Expelled?

After winning two Olympic championships, Tian Liang finally got the opportunity to stray from the rigid confines of his athletic life. The world he discovered beyond the swimming pool was more colorful and exciting than he had ever dreamed. “I shall accept due reward for my labors by taking every opportunity that comes my way,” was his frank declaration at the time.

True to his word, in 2004, as his teammates trained hard to gain honor for themselves and their country, Tian Liang was occupied in various commercial activities -- more than 30 in two months. In January 2005, he signed a three-year contract with the Emperor Entertainment Group Ltd., Hong Kong’s largest entertainment company, with the aim of trying his luck in the entertainment field. It was Tian’s decision to maintain a dual role as both sports and entertainment star that so irked his team and resulted in the decision to expel him.

“Since he lost the title of 10m diving champion to one of his teammates at the Athens Olympics, Tian Liang seems uncertain as to how to proceed in his sports career,” said one informed source, continuing, “Those born during the 1980s are more self-oriented than previous generations. They focus on themselves rather than the national team and the country as a whole. By 2008 Tian Liang will be 29, regarded as old within world diving circles. His dispute with team management would not have occurred if he had had been a little more tactful in his dealings with them. He has considered retirement, but his commercial interests require him to win a championship at the 2008 Olympics.”

Most Chinese athletes start consolidated training at sports schools at the age of six or seven. These schools differ from regular grade schools in that pupils spend much more time on physical and sports training than on academic subjects that are part of the regular national curriculum. Their mental development and social skills are consequently much weaker than would normally be the case. Tian Liang has admitted to a recent awareness of the huge gap in his interpersonal communication skills, saying that until 2004 he did not know how to order in a restaurant or buy an air ticket. He confesses, “In the past I said whatever was on my mind, regardless of what offense it might cause, and the impression I created of athletes as naïve and simple-minded. I am now more aware of propriety.”

On January 28, two days after the national team announced his dismissal, Tian Liang said at an interview: “After re-examining myself these past two days, I have decided that I am, first and last, an athlete. I will do my best to rejoin the national team and start training for the 2008 Olympics. The entertainment business is no longer a consideration.” Three days later, however, Tian Liang had sloped off to Shanghai to shoot a commercial. He has also attended the basic voice training and acting courses that Emperor Entertainment designed for him in anticipation of a starring film role.

In early February, captain of the National Diving Team Zhou Jihong said in Hong Kong that the World Diving Championships in mid-2005 would act as a stage for a new generation of national team members. She made an unspecific response to the question of whether or not Tian Liang stood a chance of returning to the national team. General opinion on that score is pessimistic.

An Out-of-Time Sports System

Chinese athletes are trained under the auspices of the government rather than through commercial sponsorship. The government provides training facilities, food and accommodation and also pays athletes’ salaries and training bonuses, as well as those of their coaches. Tian Liang’s misdemeanor lies in having built his personal wealth on fame that is due entirely to state expenditure. His ostensible preoccupation with personal gain rather than his obligation to team and country has sparked off widespread disapproval.

The current Chinese sports system still largely operates according to China’s planned economy. Following 20 years of reform and opening up, however, it has made concessions to the market economy, for example, by organizing basketball league matches and establishing the soccer club system. “Chinese sports have become increasingly commercialized since 2000, engendering a “new” occupation -- sports agent,” says Fang Xuefeng, a veteran sports reporter at Beijing TV, continuing, “In order to protect state interests, the State Sports General Administration works according to the policy of having the right to manage athletes’ commercial activities on the state’s behalf. But as the administration is inexperienced in controlling athletes’ commercial activities and regulating market operations, there is broad potential for manipulation that often gets sports administrators into awkward situations.”

Liu Xiang, 110m hurdles champion at the Athens Olympics, is a typical example. In November 2004 a tobacco advertisement endorsed by Liu Xiang for the Baisha Group was banned by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce. The administration considered it inappropriate for a sports star to endorse the unhealthy habit of smoking. Liu Xiang, meanwhile, had his own opinion about the contract signed between the Market Development Department of the SSGA Track and Field Management Center and the Baisha Cultural Communication Company. Its stipulation that he should endorse “Baisha Culture,” was not clearly defined, but as the company is a subsidiary of the Baisha Tobacco Group,he had no choice but to endorse a tobacco product. This case indicates the inexperience of the sports administration in its role of sports agent, as regards areas of a contract to be examined and clarified.

Yang Yue, a doctorate student at the China National Research Institute of Sports Science, considers the commercial value of an athlete as being gauged partly on his/her innate ability and partly on his/her Olympic performance. Within this concept, as an athlete’s Olympic achievement is mainly due to the state, all their commercial benefits earnings should also be under state control. But the State Sports General Administration also considers itself “proprietor” of athletes and their commercial value, which is not strictly the case. Yang argues that it is unfair to hold Tian Liang entirely responsible for a mistake that is due mainly to defaults on the part of the State Sports General Administration. There are many that agree with him. Li Yuanwei, president of the SSGA Basketball Management Center, has also expressed the view that the administration’s regulations need to be updated and amended.

Obstructions to Market Development

There began to be sports agent activity in China in the 1980s, but agents in a business capacity did not enter the scene until the late 1990s. “Chinese sports agents work mostly in soccer and basketball, and their qualifications vary a great deal. China currently has only 14 decent soccer agents,” says basketball agent Xia Song.

Chinese sports agents are mainly relatives of athletes, retired athletes or operatives within PR and consultancy companies. Tian Liang’s agent was formerly a fashion model. “Sports agents must be acquainted with the law, know the business and be able to speak at least one foreign language. In order to gain credibility they must also know about image remodeling and financial management,” says Chen Jizhong, who worked as a sports agent for three years before switching to pharmaceuticals. He continues, “It is not an easy job. SSGA management of athletes’ property rights covers a broad scale, which badly confines the scope of agent activity, and if an agent gets into difficulty, he gets no help from the administration. Outmoded ideas are another difficulty. Chinese parents and school teachers are unimpressed with any talent children might have for sports because they do not see sports as a viable lifetime career. Very few Chinese sports agents, therefore, can be sure of staying in the sports line indefinitely.”

Says Xia Song, “It is apparent that Tian Liang’s agent neglected to carry out market research, plan properly or identify, define or develop Tian Liang’s commercial value.” Since last September Tian Liang’s love affairs have frequently appeared in newspaper entertainment columns and on the Internet, but, as Xia says, “An athlete’s value cannot be maintained by mentions in gossip columns alone.”

Upon hearing of Tian Liang’s intention to join entertainment circles, famous Hong Kong film star Jackie Chan remarked, “That means the world will have one less champion diver, and one more third-class entertainer.”

The core of the Tian Liang affair is not whether or not he can remain in the national team, but if he can achieve a balance between national and personal interest, so creating a win-win situation.