Chinese basketball star Zhou Qi refuses to play CBA season over contract dispute

The 25-year-old to sit out Chinese Basketball Association season as he fails to seal free agency switch from Xinjiang Flying Tigers

Club stance is that former Houston Rockets player should stay but star calls on Yao Ming-led CBA to protect athletes

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China‘s Qi Zhou battles with Canada‘s Dwight Powell during the first half of a FIBA men’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games basketball qualifying game in June. Photo: AP

Published: 3:00pm, 31 Aug 2021

China basketball star Zhou Qi has said that he will not play in the upcoming Chinese Basketball Association season because of an ongoing contract dispute with his club, providing a headache for CBA chairman Yao Ming ahead of the new campaign.

The Xinjiang Flying Tigers player announced his decision on China’s Twitter-like Weibo on Sunday, just days before the August 31 deadline for player registration with the league.

Former NBA player Zhou believes that he should be a free agent after his contract expired this summer but having failed to negotiate his release from his club he has instead decided not to play.

“I announce I am quitting the whole season. I will persist in safeguarding the legitimate rights of players because that’s my responsibility as a player,” Zhou wrote.

Zhou Qi approaches the Houston Rockets bench after playing against the Phoenix Suns during the first half of an NBA Summer League basketball game in 2017. Photo: AP

“I hope what happened to me will spur the CBA league to set more reasonable standards and do a better job of protecting the legitimate rights of players.

“Meanwhile, I will submit supplementary materials to the Chinese Basketball Association as soon as possible. I expect the association to conduct a fair and just arbitration over the matter.”