:: adgruntie :: Chinese athletes banned from endorsing

+ China is banning all its athletes from appearing commercial endorsements.

Olympic diving gold medallist Tian Liang was kicked off the national team in 2005 for taking part in a rash of television ads and endorsements.

"Since the Athens games, Chinese athletes have taken part in too many commercial activities," Wei Jizhong, former general secretary of the Chinese Olympic Committee, told the paper.

"Some athletes simply do not manage the relationship between their identity and their role as product endorsers." In May, Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang came under fire for signing a deal with the Baisha corporation, a Chinese tobacco giant that sells 75 billion cigarettes a year.