Singapore, Thursday, 14 May, 2009 – It's an issue that just won't go away.

Liu Guodong, who led the Singapore women's table tennis team to a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics, returned to Singapore early this morning. His goal? To clarify just what Ms Lee Bee Wah, president of the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA), meant when she questioned his integrity and professionalism.

Ms Lee made the remarks a few days ago to explain STTA's decision not to nominate Liu for the Coach of the Year award, despite his role in bringing home Singapore's first medal in nearly half a century.

According to the Today newspaper of May 6, Ms Lee said that for the Coach of the Year award, "we expect much more than just results, such as he must be well respected by all the players or the team, show professionalism, and integrity."

The decision was controversial and many people weighed in on the issue, from the man in the street to sports insiders.

• Asiaone: Five reasons why STTA did not nominate Liu
• Singapore Sports Fan: Right move by STTA not to nominate Liu
  
• Channel NewsAsia: Online petition calls for STTA president’s removal over coach saga

Related story:
Coach of the Year Award goes to…nobody

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