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The Xinjiang team's withdrawal announcement directly aimed at Chairman Yao, and Chairman Yao's response in today's interview was ambiguous and did not face the doubt. Such an answer cannot satisfy the Xinjiang team, nor can it satisfy the fans, and it is difficult to give a satisfactory explanation to those who care about Yao Ming and Chinese basketball.
Author丨Zhang Bin
Picture丨From the Internet
Late last night, the Xinjiang men's basketball team issued an announcement to officially withdraw from the CBA, in addition to believing that the Chinese Basketball Association had previously determined that its "registration violations" had violated the legitimate rights and interests of the club, but also pointed the finger at Zhou Qi and his brokerage team, the Chinese Basketball Association, and even Yao Ming, the chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association.
In the previous "solemn statement", the Xinjiang men's basketball team named Chairman Yao, pointing out that Yao Ming is not only responsible for the overall work of the Chinese Basketball Association, but also the chairman of CBA Company. This is a very strange phenomenon, because the unspoken rules of the industry have historically been to name leaders without specifying them.
The Xinjiang men's basketball team's withdrawal announcement yesterday was more meaningful. The Xinjiang men's basketball team continued to condemn the Chinese Basketball Coordination Office for not being divided, pointing out that this is the root cause of the current chaos in Chinese basketball.
There is a manifestation of the separatist management and office, and this problem cannot be solved by Yao Ming alone. Like the Chinese Football Association, the Chinese Basketball Association is only a nominal sports club legal person, and it is still inextricably linked with the General Administration of Sports. As the Xinjiang men's basketball team said, the incomplete separation of management and office is indeed one of the root causes of chaos. However, Yao Ming can only bear the responsibility he should bear, and cannot fundamentally solve the difficult problem left over from history.
Of course, the Xinjiang men's basketball team pointed out that Yao Ming is both the head of the basketball association and the chairman of the CBA company, which is also a solid fact. However, he has gradually faded out of the daily management of CBA companies, which also objectively exists.
The fact that Yao Ming has important positions in two institutions that are parallel in principle, give the Xinjiang men's basketball team a reprehensible goal. This naturally also needs to be explained in detail by the Chinese Basketball Association and Yao Ming himself.
Xinjiang men's basketball team also has a killer feature - "At present, the intermediate business of the CBA league is highly concentrated, and many businesses such as coach qualification training, agent qualification certification, youth basketball events and many other businesses of the basketball association, as well as the broker business and main sponsor business of the CBA league, are all contracted by a sports management company in large quantities, or even exclusively undertaken. Why?? Why??! There's more than that..."
The text includes three whys, as well as several question marks, exclamation marks, and a string of vague ellipses. This can be seen as begging Yao Qiwen.
The relevant report of China Newsweek mentioned that "a certain sports management company" is Zhonghui Sports. Basketball fans are no strangers to this company. It was the brokerage company of Yao Ming, who for a long time was an investor in the company and also served as its chairman. In 2017, Yao Ming stepped down and Lu Hao became the chairman, and the current three shareholders are Lu Hao, Li Lu and Ying Yuzhong.
Before Yao Ming became president of the basketball association, he was a businessman, and everyone knows this. He stepped down from Zhonghui Sports, and legally speaking, he had nothing to do with Zhonghui Sports. In other words, as a leading sports management company in China, Zhonghui Sports is fully qualified to accept relevant business from the Chinese Basketball Association or CBA companies in a legal and compliant manner.
The hint in the announcement of the Xinjiang men's basketball team has a certain degree of innuendo, which is easy to be interpreted by the outside world as possibly involving the transmission of interests. Of course, the Xinjiang men's basketball team did not say it explicitly, but still considered avoiding legal risks. But this has essentially affected Yao's reputation and has also had a lot of negative effects on Zhonghui Sports.
The whole thing is still fermenting, there is no real winner, it can be described as many defeats. Relatively speaking, the announcement of the Xinjiang men's basketball team was harsh and detailed, which won a lot of sympathy. Zhou Qi's statement is also substantial, and he also brought out a lot of physical evidence, emphasizing that "not speaking out is not unreasonable", and also won the support of many fans and won back a city for himself.
The Chinese Basketball Association, Yao Ming, and the CBA companies that were pointed out by the Chinese Basketball Association as having violations are completely at a disadvantage. At the public event today, Yao Ming was interviewed, expressing respect for the decision of the Xinjiang team, thanking the Xinjiang men's basketball team for its contribution to Chinese basketball, and deeply regretting the latter's withdrawal.
However, Yao Ming's statement did not hit the point, completely ignoring the Xinjiang men's basketball team's personal doubts about him. A solemn statement and an announcement of the Xinjiang men's basketball team directly named names. Yao Ming should not wait to take it lightly, which involves not only his personal and Zhonghui sports' reputation, but also the reputation of Chinese basketball.
We cannot make inferences of guilt, neither should we assume that because he was the chairman of Zhonghui Sports before, we should take it for granted that he may have an interest entanglement with Zhonghui Sports.
The statement of the Xinjiang men's basketball team is also suspected of being irresponsible. If there is evidence that Yao Ming has a profit transmission with "a sports agency", it should be directly reported and exposed; If there is no evidence, the facts should be stated, rather than triggering groundless speculation by netizens.
In the face of the suspected splashing of dirty water by the Xinjiang men's basketball team, Yao Ming has no reason to show his generosity. I believe that Zhonghui Sports' business with the Chinese Basketball Association or CBA should be clear and traceable. If it can stand the test, Yao Ming and Zhonghui Sports should face the doubt. As mentioned earlier, this has affected the image of Yao Ming, a benchmark figure in Chinese basketball, and also affected the Chinese Basketball Association, CBA League and other dimensions.
In addition to Yao Ming, the Chinese Basketball Association should also stand up to face the doubts, especially on the issue of registration qualifications, and should give the Xinjiang team and the public a clear and clear explanation, which regulations were followed, which regulations the Xinjiang men's basketball team violated and the problem of registration qualifications, what violations exist in the financial exchanges between CBA companies and the Xinjiang team, and cannot let all this become a confused account. The attitude of not saying a word is not only completely unconvincing, but also easy to be understood by the outside world as a loss.
The interests of the three parties involved in this matter, and none of them could be completely innocent. Now public opinion is more on the side of Xinjiang, which is related to information asymmetry, and the Chinese Basketball Association has no statement except Yao Ming's official statement. Even the pattern of anonymous interviews by people related to the basketball association has disappeared.
At such a sensitive juncture, the Chinese Basketball Association should put an end to "Yamen faction". A new round of anti-corruption storm in Chinese sports is vigorously staged, the public's trust in Chinese sports is gradually declining, the Chinese Basketball Association, Yao Ming and even CBA companies should put an end to the idea of saving their lives and face all doubts.
In fact, Chinese basketball, like Chinese football, has reached a critical point of survival. The most ideal solution is to face the media openly, produce reasoned evidence and relevant policy provisions, and even sacrifice legal weapons to set the record straight. Otherwise, the "gourd case" in the Chinese basketball world will not only become a scar, but may also trigger a tsunami-like chain reaction in the future.