A sexual harassment case involving a teenage Chinese woman pool player took a new twist yesterday amid charges that top officials tried to silence her and also siphoned off training funds.
At a press conference on Monday, Zhou Ruixin (周瑞新), who runs a Shanghai pool hall, said officials had retaliated against his daughter for blowing the whistle on sexual harassment while they had also pocketed thousands of dollars in cash from sports ministry funds.
"Some leading officials at the Multi-ball Games Administration Center did things that cannot bear the light of day," Zhou was quoted as saying in the China Daily.
The center, under the sports ministry, is responsible for cue sports such as pool, billiards and snooker.
The sexual harassment case blew up in December when Zhou Mengmeng, 19, (周萌萌) told the media she had been harassed and beaten by Tian Pengfei (田鵬飛), a double gold medalist in snooker at the Asian Games, according to media reports..
Following an investigation, China's sports ministry decided last month to ban both players for a year, punishing Zhou for speaking out to the media about the incident that took place at the Asian Games in Doha.
At Monday's press conference in Shanghai, her father said that sports officials had also blocked his daughter from travelling abroad, intervening to stop her from obtaining a visa to play in the US.
He also made graft charges against a unnamed top official from the center.
Zhou said four pool players, a coach and a senior official visited Shanghai in August to train for the Doha Asian Games.
He said that hotel bills for the trip were inflated by almost US$3,000.
"They cooked accounts and likely took possession of training funds allotted by the country for the Doha Asian Games worth 22,400 yuan [US$2,870]," Zhou said.
MARRED FINAL: As most of Senegalese players walked off the pitch after a controversial decision, some supporters threw objects and attempted to get onto the pitch Senegal on Sunday won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as Pape Gueye’s extra-time winner sunk hosts Morocco 1-0 after a chaotic final that saw the eventual champions storm off the pitch late in the game. Brahim Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with a controversial spot-kick in the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time as ugly scenes broke out in the stands. However, Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted “Panenka” chip by the Real Madrid winger, who was clearly distracted by the long delay that followed the penalty award.
James Harden on Friday scored 31 points and came up big in overtime to help the Los Angeles Clippers erase a double-digit deficit on the way to a 121-117 NBA victory over the Toronto Raptors. Harden scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Clippers pushed their wining steak to five games despite the absence of star Kawhi Leonard with a sprained right ankle. The Clippers trailed by 11 entering the fourth quarter, but Harden drilled a pair of free-throws with 1:24 left in regulation to tie it and after misses from both teams, they went to
Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg on Wednesday was ruled out for the second half of their 118-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets after the No. 1 pick sprained his left ankle in the first half. Flagg was called for a foul while defending against Peyton Watson and turned the ankle as he fell to the floor with 6 minutes, 1 second left in the second quarter. Flagg limped to the bench and continued to the locker room, but returned for the final 2 minutes, 35 seconds before the break. The 19-year-old did not come out for the second half before the announcement that
Yassine Bounou on Wednesday saved two penalties, while Youssef en-Nesyri netted the decisive spot-kick as hosts Morocco secured a 4-2 shoot-out victory over Nigeria following a 0-0 draw in a tense Africa Cup of Nations semi-final in Rabat. Morocco, seeking their first continental title in 50 years, are to face 2021 winners Senegal in Sunday’s decider in Rabat, while Nigeria take on Egypt in the third-place playoff tomorrow. The 120 minutes before the shoot-out had few clear-cut chances for either side, but it was Morocco who created more opportunities, although they were denied by some fine saves from Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali. Nigeria
RSS