Teenager behind China basketball fraud handed 3-year ban, teams stripped of titles
Zhang Hanbo created a younger alias and conned country’s coaches into picking him for national under-18 squad as Li Yize
A Chinese basketball player who conned the country’s coaches into thinking he was a teenage star was handed a three-year ban on Wednesday for competing under two different names and lying about his age.
Zhang Hanbo, who was born in 2006, created a second registration under the name Li Yize, and was even picked to be part of the China national under-18 team set-up.
But his fraud unravelled when local media reports pointed out that photographs of Li closely resembled earlier ones of Zhang, and the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) launched an investigation in April.
By that point, Li had already made his mark in a 73-59 win over New Zealand in April, recording 20 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
“An investigation by relevant authorities has confirmed athlete Zhang Hanbo [birth date March 19, 2006] and Li Yize [birth date March 27, 2008] are the same person,” the CBA said in an online statement.
Local media reports revealed that Zhang had registered as Li with the later date of birth to maintain eligibility for a national competition in 2024. He also played for Hubei in the under-18 category of last year’s National Games.