China is attempting to crack down on its “aggressive” Olympic fans, saying their behaviour is affecting the performance of the country’s athletes in Paris.

China’s state-run media has hit out at “toxic fan culture”, which it says includes booing during events or accusing referees of being unfair.

The situation came to a head after women’s table tennis player Chen Meng defeated her Chinese teammate Sun Yingsha to win gold.

Chinese social media platforms were inundated with furious Sun supporters making accusations of doping and cheating against Chen.

Fan arrested

Beijing police arrested and detained a 29-year-old woman this week for posting allegedly inflammatory and defamatory comments about athletes and coaches on the Sina Weibo social media platform after the match.

The Chinese government-run Global Times said the arrest “underscores the authorities’ efforts to curb the negative impact of toxic fan culture and maintain the integrity of sports”.

It reported that the arrest followed an official crackdown on more than 800 accounts on Chinese social media platforms that had been “spreading negativity and fomenting conflict” during the Olympics, with more than 50,000 “inappropriate fan” posts being removed.

The women’s table tennis final severely divided fans. Photo: Getty

China Daily, another state-run media organisation, said the ugly clashes over the table tennis final was an example of how China’s ‘fan club culture’ is eroding the sport’s standing.

“The ‘fan club culture’ originates from the entertainment industry, which stresses strong adhesion between fans and stars,” it said.

“The members of the ‘fan club’ are different from common sports fans, as the former are strongly exclusive and ready to attack those that they deem don’t share their devotion to their idol.”

The Global Times said authorities have also criticised fans who cheer loudly or use flash photography during matches.

“The [fan culture] not only affects the training and competition of Chinese athletes, but also seriously affects the reputation of Chinese sports,” state-run news agency Xinhua said in a video report this week.

Chinese authorities had attempted to curb the behaviour of fans before the Paris Games.

The Chinese Olympic Committee and General Administration of Sport of China last year scolded fans after repeated incidents of them filming and following athletes.

“It seems that these ‘low-level fans’ are driven by their love for idols and impulsively make irrational actions that endanger the normal order of events, public order and good customs, sportsmanship and social morality,” they had said in a joint statement.