SINGAPORE — National sports agency Sport Singapore (SportSG) has dismissed allegations against former national table tennis player Feng Tianwei over "claims of misappropriation of public funds" by an individual claiming to be her former physical trainer.
A person purporting to be Zhou Xiang recently levelled numerous accusations at the Olympic medallist via a dossier containing over 100 pages.
The printed documents were sent to The Straits Times two weeks ago, and an anonymous e-mail carrying similar content was also sent to SportSG, the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth and the media on Nov 10.
The dispute involving the individual claiming to be Zhou and Feng, who retired in 2022 and is now an assistant director at SportSG and principal of the ActiveSG Table Tennis Academy, is allegedly financial in nature, among other matters.
Responding to ST's queries, a SportSG spokesman said on Nov 19: "SportSG is aware of recent allegations stemming from a personal arrangement between retired paddler Feng Tianwei and her former personal fitness coach.
"As one of the allegations involved the possible fraudulent use of public monies, SportSG's checks on our records indicate no evidence to support claims of misappropriation of public funds."
Noting that "a similar allegation raised by the same person in 2021" was determined to be "without merit", he added that the other matters "pertain to personal and contractual issues between both parties".
When contacted, Feng, 38, confirmed that she worked with Zhou in 2018 for seven months, but the latter quit later that year to focus on writing his postgraduate thesis. There were no financial disputes then, she said.
She later discovered that he was insulting her coach Li Jiao, a China-born former Netherlands player, online and, after her attempts to dissuade him from doing so failed, she reported the matter to Zhou's professor Cao Xiaodong.
ST has seen screenshots shared by Feng of what appears to be text exchanges between her and Zhou, which include profanities and nasty messages about her mother and late father.
Feng noted that Zhou has since late 2018 been "harassing me, my family, and friends through insults, defamatory remarks, personal attacks, and other abusive behaviour, causing significant mental stress for my family and I".
She added: "In 2021, Zhou Xiang even made false accusations against me to SportSG. Following an investigation, SportSG found the claims unsubstantiated, and issued a formal response to him. I have refrained from addressing this matter publicly, but I would like to take this opportunity to formally respond as I hope to put an end to this six-year ordeal, and focus on my post-retirement career and family life.
"To safeguard my rights, I have also engaged a legal counsel to gather evidence of Zhou Xiang's defamatory statements and acts of privacy violations. Should he persist in his unlawful actions, I am prepared to pursue legal actions to protect my rights and interests."
In a phone interview, Li claimed that Zhou has also been subjecting her to online abuse. The 51-year-old, who is currently a coach in China, said: "This has caused my family and I significant distress and we are looking at legal avenues to see how we can stop this."
ST has contacted Zhou, but he has yet to respond.
However, He Keyi, who coached Feng from 2019 to 2022, has vouched for her character. He said: "I've seen some of the things written about her online, but Tianwei and I had a happy working relationship for four years.
"She is a nice person who values relationships and takes care of her team. If she is a bad person, I wouldn't have been able to coach her for so long."
Born in Harbin, China, Feng was recruited under the Foreign Sports Talent Scheme and became a Singapore citizen in 2008.
She notched many achievements in her career, claiming an Olympic team silver and bronze (2008, 2012) and an individual bronze in 2012, as well as nine Commonwealth Games golds and eight titles at the SEA Games. She was also part of the team who made history at the 2010 World Team Table Tennis Championships, where they stunned China 3-1 in the final to become world champions.
But there was controversy in 2016 after the Rio Olympics when she was dropped by the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA), who said she did not fit with its plans to rejuvenate the national team and focus more on developing young local talent.
There were also allegations against Feng then, and she responded by saying she has "never committed fraud or done anything illegal" throughout her time with STTA.
The axing meant she no longer received an allowance from the national sports association. Feng then had to set up her own team, which she shared cost her hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to maintain, although she continued to receive funding from SportSG as a spexScholar and support from the Singapore Sport Institute.
After struggling with injuries and failing to win more medals in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, Feng retired on a high by claiming the women's team, singles and doubles gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.
