Mumbai: These are somewhat turbulent times in world table tennis. Three of the sport’s most iconic figures and top Chinese players — 2024 Paris Olympics singles champions Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng along with the legendary Ma Long — have pulled out of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) world rankings and World Table Tennis (WTT) tour, largely over a dispute regarding fines for non-participation in tournaments.

These are no ordinary players. Fan, 27, is a multiple-time Olympic and Worlds gold medallist and former world No.1. So is Chen, who won back-to-back Olympic singles titles in Tokyo and Paris. Ma Long, a six-time Olympic champion, is considered the greatest to have played the sport.

Their withdrawal has shaken the TT world with a few other players like France’s Simon Gauzy and Nigerian Aruna Quadri also voicing similar concerns. Forced to act, ITTF on Friday set up a task force “to gather feedback from players and review existing regulations”. The panel includes India’s Sharath Kamal, who also co-chairs the ITTF Athletes Commission.

“It’s not a good look for the sport,” he told HT. “We had a fantastic Olympics in Paris, where TT was a huge success as per the IOC. There was more money coming in. The sport was in the limelight. From that viewpoint, it’s not come at the best time. It’s also a wake-up call.”

The crux of the issue stems from the mandatory tournaments that top players are required to play (10 on the WTT tour), and the fines imposed if they don’t. The WTT — formed by ITTF to run commercial tournaments — in its 2025 regulations has increased the overall prize money pool for players, but also introduced higher fines for those “who choose to participate in non-WTT events taking place during WTT events they have withdrawn from”. These sanctions, it is learnt, can go as high as $5,000, although WTT maintains that imposing penalties is not new.

In his post on Weibo, Fan said he could not afford to pay such fines, while Chen stated that her body could not withstand the number of tournaments. A lot of top paddlers from China, the TT powerhouse, compete only in select tournaments on the WTT tour. Other world’s top paddlers also play club TT in Europe, where they have proper contracts.

“The main issue is mandatory tournaments. Fines are imposed because of that,” Sharath said. “There’s a new structure for tournaments, which is offering higher prize money. But the thing is they want top players to keep playing. Players say they have no contract with WTT. The WTT in turn is like if we are not able to make sure that top players are competing, it is tough to attract sponsors. Both sides will have to understand each other’s viewpoint.”

Sharath cited the example of the WTT Star Contender Goa, where there was considerably greater sponsor interest leading into the 2023 edition, for which Ma Long and Fan had registered, compared to last year. India’s top paddler also said the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Europe had disrupted the calendar due to which fewer WTT top-tier events like the Grand Smash were held until this year. It compelled top stars to also turn up for lower-tier events to maintain rankings. Burnout was therefore a recurring theme among players.

“There were not enough higher-tier tournaments. Stronger players came to weaker tournaments; they did not get enough prize money, and weaker players did not get enough points. Those disparities were too much. Hopefully it will ease out now,” Sharath said.

Part of the ITTF Athletes Commission since 2022, the 42-year-old said he had been raising certain issues with WTT for the last couple of years, including the announcement of a full calendar in advance. “It’s getting better, but it’s still a struggle,” Sharath said. “Players are going helter-skelter, and it is something they (WTT) also know.”

As part of the ITTF task force, Sharath seeks to reach out to top players, including Fan, this month to hear their views and take that to the bodies to try and work out a balancing act.

“It’s a bit of a grave situation. It’s three players now; it could be more going ahead because a lot them are complaining,” Sharath said. “It is important to restore some peace.”