China-born new Singapore citizen table tennis player, Li Hu, had his contract terminated by the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) yesterday (Oct 24).
According to STTA, 28-year-old Li Hu brought a woman, believed to be his girlfriend, to stay overnight at his dormitory on several occasions. In a strongly-worded public statement, the STTA management claimed that they verbally warned him several times but the table tennis player was “insubordinate”.
“Li Hu displayed insolence, insubordination and continued to violate house rules despite verbal warnings. The STTA does not tolerate indiscipline. Li Hu’s repeated breaches of the Code of Conduct is a cause of serious concern to the STTA. Despite being verbally warned on several occasions, Li Hu continued to breach the dormitory and house rules. His insubordination is unacceptable and is not tolerated. It was a unanimous decision by the Disciplinary Committee to early terminate Li Hu’s contract for his repeated code of conduct breaches.”
However, it appears that Li Hu’s failure to qualify for the Olympics in August that is the final straw why STTA would no longer “close an eye” on his repeated infringements.
The new Singaporean citizen and his mother are also currently under investigation from the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) for allegedly accepting bribes over match-fixing.
Li Hu was forced to sign a resignation letter prepared by the STTA five days before the police investigation.
Li Hu received Singaporean citizenship in 2011 in less than a year after arriving in 2010 under the Foreign Sports Talents Scheme. The Singapore national table-tennis team is saturated with players all born in China, as part of the dictator Prime Minister’s plan to fast-track attainment of sports medals.