Weibo disbands athlete fan communities to combat toxic fan culture

China's X-like platform Sina Weibo on Thursday evening announced the dissolution of fan communities, or "super topics," dedicated to certain athletes in order to protect sportspersons from the toxic fan culture.

The personal super topics of prominent Chinese athletes, including table tennis stars Fan Zhendong, Sun Yingsha, and Wang Chuqin, as well as swimming champion Zhang Yufei and badminton player Wang Chang, had been closed.

The announcement follows a statement issued by the Table Tennis and Badminton Management Center of China's General Administration of Sport on Wednesday, condemning recent incidents of verbal abuse and insults directed at national team athletes during the recently concluded Asian Cup table tennis tournament in Shenzhen.

Such behavior, it said, severely disrupted the competition and created a negative social impact.

During the women's singles final at the Asian Cup, which concluded on Sunday, China's Wang Manyu secured her first Asian title by defeating compatriot Sun Yingsha 4-0. However, the match was marred by unruly fans who shouted and even hurled insults, attempting to disrupt the game.

In a post-match interview, Wang responded to the disruptions by telling the fans to "take good care of their throats," a remark widely interpreted as a rebuke for their inappropriate behavior.

This is not the first time such incidents have occurred.

During the women's singles final at the Paris Olympics last July, Chinese table tennis player Chen Meng faced similar challenges. While the majority of Chinese spectators supported her younger teammate Sun, some fans booed Chen, and negative comments about her flooded social media platforms after the match. Rumors and false accusations targeting Chen and other athletes further exacerbated the situation.

In recent years, the infiltration of "fan culture" into the sports world has become increasingly problematic. Toxic behaviors such as online harassment, spreading rumors, and inciting conflicts have become more frequent, disrupting competitions and undermining the healthy development of Chinese sports.

Not long ago, the China Table Tennis Association and the Chinese table tennis team jointly decided to dissolve their official fan groups and extended the scope to all personnel and social media platforms, taking practical actions to resist distorted "fan culture"

The Chinese table tennis team firmly opposes negative and unhealthy fan culture and will continue to focus on training and competition. The team is dedicated to striving for greater honors for the country and its people through outstanding performances while promoting positive sportsmanship, according to the statement.