Difficulty: Summiteer (Level 3)
Chinese officials have told fans not to have big birthday parties for national team athletes. They say these parties can be distracting and waste resources.
In China and other Asian countries, fans often plan big events to celebrate their favourite celebrities’ birthdays.
In November, there were celebrations for table tennis champion Sun Yingsha’s 25th birthday. These included big messages on digital billboards, a drone show and large gatherings of fans at shopping malls around the country.
Reports from state media say that a manager at China’s General Administration of Sport asked fans to be sensible and not to organise or take part in things like birthday celebrations for athletes.
People in China admire their sports stars, but this sometimes leads to fans getting overly interested in their personal lives and even bullying them online.
State media have called such behaviour “toxic fandom” and Chinese authorities have vowed to crack down on it.
