China star Wang Li afraid to return home, fears retaliation over viral bullying video
The Yunnan Provincial Sports Bureau is investigating accusations triple Asian Games gold medallist made against coach
Triple Asian Games champion Wang Li has said she is afraid to return home and fears retaliation against her family after publicly accusing her boss of abuse and forcing her to retire.
Dragon boat star Wang made the claims in a series of RedNote videos, the fifth of which she uploaded on Tuesday. The videos also feature an alleged recording of staff from Yunnan’s Songmao Sports Training Base trying to pressure Wang into retiring.
The furore started after Wang said in a video posted last week to RedNote that she was verbally and physically abused after refusing to give her boss, director Fan Jiwen, the 150,000 yuan (HK$165,559) prize money she won in Hangzhou in 2023.
Wang also claimed in the video that the bullying culminated in Fan recently telling Chinese sport bosses the 23-year-old was retiring through injury, effectively ending her career.
“After I made the public report under my real name, I didn’t dare stay at home,” Wang said in her latest videos, adding that she is currently staying at a friend’s vacant flat. “I am afraid of retaliation that might hurt my family.”
After Wang posted the video last week, staff at the training base said Wang had applied for retirement and “personally pressed her fingerprint” on the documents.