Chinese volleyball coach Chen Fang criticised for hospitalising PLA player Yuan Dangyi with post-loss training ‘punishment’
- Yuan Dangyi of People’s Liberation Army team was singled out after Super League loss to Beijing
- Media and fans in the mainland critical of coach Chen Fang, who has slapped the same player previously
What’s the biggest punishment after losing a volleyball match?
In China, a player was repeatedly hit with the ball by his coach in an “individual training session” enforced after they lost a Super League match.
Yuan Dangyi, who plays for Bayi Nanchang, was apparently the culprit in the eyes of coach Chen Fang after they were beaten 3-1 by Beijing Guangcai Motors at home.
The Bayi team is made up of members of the People’s Liberation Army.
In video footage, Yuan was seen being hit with balls from his coach until he could not stand up and laid on the floor. But Chen did not stop and continued to use balls to hit the player.
Mainland media reported Yuan was later sent to hospital but no serious injury was found. Sina Sports said they interviewed an insider who said the player was punished with an individual training session after the match because the player did not receive the ball well during the match and had already been warned by the coach.
“This is not unusual (individual training after a match),” said the insider. “We did the same additional training before and other teams also.
“Yuan’s back was already injured in the match.”
However, there was strong reaction from the fans.
“Individual training is not a problem, but why must the coach hit the player’s body and insult the player’s dignity,” commented a fan on Sina Sports. Another fan said the coach must apologise and the Bayi team also owed the fans an explanation for the coach’s behaviour.
Tencent Sports interviewed Chen Gang, who was the coach of Chen Fang when he was a player. “He called me right after the incident and was regretful of his own behaviour,” said Chen Gang.
“He will submit the case to his supervisor for a review and would accept any punishment from the club or the Super League management.”
