Soccer star’s son sacked from Serbian team ‘under pressure’ from Beijing

One of China’s greatest soccer players called for an end to the Communist Party and regime change in two videos uploaded to YouTube last week on the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre.

Hǎo Hǎidōng 郝海东, the nation’s record goal scorer, released the videos on the YouTube channel of exiled Chinese tycoon and critic of the Chinese government, Guō Wénguì 郭文贵.

In the first video, Hao reads out in Chinese a manifesto of a new “Federal State of New China,” a replacement for the People’s Republic of China.

“The Communist Party’s totalitarian rule in China has caused horrific atrocities against humanity,” the ex-Sheffield United player tells the camera, calling the CCP a “terrorist organization.”

“Totalitarian rule in China has caused horrific atrocities against humanity, total disregard for human rights, and the destruction of humanity, trampled all over democracy, violated the rule of law, dishonored lawful agreements, caused great bloodshed in Hong Kong, and exported corruption across the globe,” he says.

“The crimes it has committed are too heinous to be tolerated! The elimination of the Chinese Communist Party is essential in breaking the shackles of slavery imposed on the Chinese people, and also in bringing about peace to the world. The New Federal State of China, as a country without the Chinese Communist Party, will be able to fulfill the needs of all Chinese people as well as ensure the prosperity of the world.”

The second video features an interview with Hao and his wife, Yè Zhāoyǐng 叶钊颖 — a former badminton world champion and Chinese Olympian.

Hao was bullish when asked about the potential consequences of his actions, stating, “Today, we’ve made the biggest and most correct decision in our lives.”

However, this week, the Serbian soccer club, Radnicki Nis, sacked Hǎo Rùnzé 郝润泽, his son, under pressure from Beijing, according to media reports. Only a week ago, Hao Runze had been hailed by Chinese media for scoring his first goal for his Serbian club. Now all mentions of the 23-year-old defender have been erased on Chinese news sites.

The club denied that Hao had been sacked following Chinese political interference, instead claiming his contract had expired (in Serbian).

No more women’s basketball this year, even as men get to play

The rest of the Women’s Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA) season has been canceled following the outbreak of COVID-19.

The 2019–20 WCBA season was suspended in January in preparation for the Olympic qualification tournament but never resumed following the outbreak of the virus around China.

The professional players in the league will have every right to feel aggrieved, however, as last week saw the announcement of the imminent return of the men’s CBA this month.

In China, as in many other countries, women’s sports was the first on the chopping block and is set to be the last to resume.

Ding pulls out of Snooker Tour Championship to “avoid extensive travel”

Chinese snooker star Dīng Jùnhuī 丁俊晖 has withdrawn from the Tour Championship.

The star, who helped spread the sport in China, pulled out of the U.K. tournament slated for June 20 as a “safety precaution” and to “avoid extensive travel” brought about by the U.K. government’s decision to introduce a 14-day quarantine for overseas arrivals in the country.

Ding and the World Snooker Tour had attempted to get Ding an exemption to the rule from the government.

However, it was announced by the governing body that Ding would not travel to the tournament; instead, Stephen Maguire was named as his replacement.