Chen Xing, the main force of national table tennis, was pushed to the hot search list when he looked at his mobile phone in the same field

Can athletes look at their phones on the field?

This feature was written by Zhang Zhe, Huang Wei and Bai Zhibiao

How much time do you spend looking at your phone every day? According to an authoritative survey, among global smartphone users, Brazilian users spend 5.4 hours a day looking at their phones, and Chinese users also spend more than 4 hours on their mobile phones. Swiping on a mobile phone in leisure time has become a subconscious behavior of the public, but if an athlete does so on the field, it may involve violations and be punished. At the WTT Nagoya Women's Finals that ended on December 12, Chen Xingtong, the main player of national table tennis, looked at his mobile phone for a few seconds during the suspension of the women's singles semifinals, and was quickly pushed onto the Weibo hot search list after the game. Can athletes look at their phones or use other electronic devices on the field?

Swiping your phone should be unintentional

The referee has the right to award a yellow card or penalty point

The main players of the Chinese team, Sun Yingsha, Chen Meng, Chen Xingtong and Wang Yidi, arranged the women's singles semifinals in the Nagoya Women's Finals. In the semifinals of the second half of the region on the 17th, Chen Xingtong and Wang Yidi competed for a place in the finals. In the first four games, Chen Xingtong fell behind 1-3. After Chen Xingtong led 5-4 in the fifth game, the match went into timeout. Since this is a competition between athletes from the same association, the Chinese team did not send coaches for off-field guidance. Like other national table tennis team matchups, Chen Xingtong and Wang Yidi made their own adjustments, in addition to drinking water, what entered the live broadcast camera was Chen Xingtong sitting in the position and watching the mobile phone for a few seconds, this action made her become the object of hot search after losing to Wang Yidi with a big score of 1-4.

Some fans posted on Weibo the relevant regulations of the WTT World Table Tennis Federation, and the accessories that athletes can use include towels, clothes, socks, shoes, bandanas, headbands, glasses, etc. Coaches and athletes are not allowed to use any mobile phones, iPads, laptops, etc., to transmit data, including smartwatches, before or during the competition.

In this regard, the reporter interviewed professionals who are familiar with the relevant competition regulations of the WTT World Table Tennis Federation. According to the person's analysis, Chen Xingtong's mobile phone should be an unintentional move. It turned out that during the epidemic, in order to avoid infection, many international sports organizations have issued relevant guidelines to allow athletes to communicate with off-court coaches through electronic devices, and the World Table Tennis Federation is no exception. At the time, athletes were allowed to communicate with off-field coaches on mobile phones. In the post-pandemic era, some coaches and athletes have not fully adjusted this Xi. Regarding Chen Xingtong's behavior of looking at his mobile phone, some netizens found that the relevant regulations were to fine thousands of dollars; Professionals revealed that the referee on the spot does have the right to issue a yellow card warning, and the most serious thing is to give a penalty of 1 point.

Chess and card games keep electronics out

Bathrooms also have high-power signal jammers

Bringing mobile phones to chess and card competitions has long been banned by the industry. As recently as 2017, the official website of the Chinese Chess Academy issued a statement, saying that "all chess players are prohibited from carrying and viewing mobile phones and other electronic devices, and they will be judged immediately if they are found."

The rules for the use of mobile phones in chess and card competitions can be fully understood from the recently concluded National Mind Games. Whether it's Go, chess, chess, backgammon, bridge, or checkers, these formal intellectual games all keep electronic devices out.

Before the contestants, they must first go through a special channel and hand over their mobile phones to the staff of the referee team. Subsequently, the athlete has to go through a special inspection channel, and the safety gate will also re-detect the metal equipment that may appear on the player's body, and if the safety door sounds, the referee will also check the athlete again.

Finally, even if you have a mobile phone, it is basically impossible for any player to use it to transmit or receive any information. Because, there are high-power signal jammers on all sides of the playing field, and no mobile phone has a signal in the field.

The typical case of "cheating" using smart devices that has been reported by the media over the years came in 2015, when Georgian chess grandmaster Gaioz Nigaliz frequently went to the toilet during key rounds of the Dubai Chess Open in the United Arab Emirates, which caught the attention of the organizers. In the end, after investigation, the organizers found out that he was actually looking at the smartphone chess game analysis application hidden in the toilet. Nicaliz initially denied that the phone was his, but the social media accounts installed on the phone were in his name and the game analysis app was analyzing the game he was playing in discredited.

Now, it is impossible to secretly use the Internet to cheat in the toilet. In the previous National Smart Games, even the men's and women's toilets were full of high-power signal jammers. Players want to go to the toilet, but also have to go through the special channel, basically put an end to the possibility of cheating through mobile phones, basically every professional chess and card player, has already thought that carrying a mobile phone or smart device into the field to "cheat" behavior is "stupid" and "cost-effective".

The Chinese Super League punishes the coach for hitting his mobile phone

The female ranking coach directs the game with an "iPad".

It is not uncommon to be penalized for using electronic devices on the bench on the football field. In the 2018 Chinese Super League, then Guizhou Hengfeng coach Pedrescu suffered a seven-game suspension, and he used the phone to remotely direct the assistant coach on the bench during the ban during the game, and the Guizhou team was punished with 7,4 yuan. Because the "Chinese Super League Regulations" at that time clearly stated that "during the competition, players and officials are not allowed to use any electronic communication equipment and systems".

According to the latest FIFA 2021~2022 edition of the competition rules on the "electronic communication" section, players (including substitutes, substitutes and players who have been sent off) are not allowed to wear or use any form of electronic or communication equipment (except for the electronic performance tracking system). Team officials are permitted to use electronic communication devices related to the well-being and safety of players, or for tactical/instructional purposes, but only small, mobile, portable (e.g. microphones, headphones, headsets, cell phones/smartphones, smartwatches, tablets, laptops, etc.). Team officials who use offending equipment or use it in an improper manner will be ejected from the technical area.

In international volleyball matches, it is permissible for a coach to use electronic devices to direct the game. During the London Olympic cycle more than 10 years ago, the head coach of the Japanese women's volleyball team, Masayoshi Manabe, used an iPad to conduct on-the-spot command in international competitions. The same is true of his next Japanese women's volleyball coach, Kumi Nakata, who uses wireless headphones to communicate with other members of the coaching staff throughout the process, in addition to holding the iPad in her hand at all times to check the data transmitted from the back and analyze the opponent's ball path. Italian coach Gudeti, who has coached the Dutch women's volleyball team, the Turkish women's volleyball team and the Serbian women's volleyball team, is also an "iPad" enthusiast. In fact, he used an electronic screen during the game. He can transmit information via a touch screen to the referee and the technical desk officials via a wireless network. Whether it's an Hawkeye challenge, a pause, a line-up submission or a substitution, he can do it all with the touchscreen in his hand.

Shooting weightlifting objective reasons can not bring mobile phones

Billiards players hand over their mobile phones to agents or assistants

As we all know, in the shooting arena, especially in the rifle event, the players need to wear special shooting equipment to support the posture when shooting, there is no place to carry mobile phones, athletes will put their mobile phones in their backpacks when they go on the field, and it is impossible to think of mobile phones when they are nervous about the competition. Even when I sit in the chair behind me, my mind is thinking about technical movements or receiving guidance from the coach, and I don't have time to pay attention to my mobile phone. More often than not, after a race, after taking off the competition uniform and changing into a training uniform, sometimes take out the phone from the backpack to see if there are any important calls.

Weightlifters also have no place to carry their mobile phones with them when they go on the field, and it is impossible to take them out between competitions. Walking off the field and waiting for the next round of trials at the back court, the coach will ask for tactics, and the athletes will also think about the technical essentials on the field, not about the mobile phone. Like the shooter, the phone is carried in the backpack that you carry before you go to the field.

Even in non-Olympic billiards, players go to the toilet according to their personal needs during the break, and then quickly return to the court. Although billiards players wear formal clothes and pockets for carrying mobile phones, according to the needs of the field and the game, no player will carry a mobile phone on the court, because there will be a situation of lying on the table during the game, and the mobile phone will affect the hitting of the ball, and the player will hand over the mobile phone to the assistant or agent who follows for safekeeping, or put it in the cue bag.

In the just-concluded 6th Chinese Billiards World Championships, the reporter saw at the scene that some players would take out their mobile phones from their club bags after the game, but no players took out their mobile phones during the game or between games. In fact, spectators are not allowed to make mobile phones during billiards matches.