Chapter 90

After Zhang Guan returned to the capital, he immediately received a call from He Yiming. It turned out that the people from Fuda Investment Company had arrived in the capital a day earlier than him and brought all the necessary authorizations and legal documents.

Zhang Guan signed the relevant documents with He Yiming and also signed the authorization documents for the Champion Team. From this moment on, Zhang Guan's management team, the Champion Team, was officially recognized by law.

Then he returned to the Temple of Heaven Apartment. The Olympic champion team could be officially disbanded the next day, and the athletes would start returning home. Zhang Guan also planned to go home to visit his parents.

However, to Zhang Guan's surprise, the Athletics Management Center sent people again, and this time, they were familiar faces: Director Sun, Nike's Manager Wang, and Lawyer Zhu.

The moment Zhang Guan saw Manager Wang, he guessed their intentions. A few days ago, he might have felt very passive, but now that the legal documents for the Champion Team had officially taken effect, Zhang Guan felt confident and fearless.

Director Sun's attitude was similar to the last time. He still handed Zhang Guan a few A4 papers without any explanation, asking him to sign directly. The content on the A4 papers was the same as before, all authorization letters.

Zhang Guan put down the A4 papers and said, "I'm afraid I can't sign this."

"Why? You're already eighteen, an adult," Director Sun's face turned dark like a stormy sky.

"I have already formed a dedicated management team to handle my commercial development," Zhang Guan paused and continued, "The relevant legal documents have been completed."

"What? Why didn't we know about this?" Director Sun shouted angrily.

"The preparations started a few days ago, and I just signed all the legal documents a few hours ago," Zhang Guan thought for a moment and added, "There was a lawyer present, so it's legal."

"No, you can't do this!" Director Sun continued to yell, "The leadership of the center hasn't approved it. You can't do this. This is a violation of discipline!"

Zhang Guan was well-prepared for this. He said, "According to the 'Notice on the Management of Athletes Engaging in Advertising and Business Activities' issued by the General Administration of Sport, as long as the organization approves, current athletes can engage in advertising and business activities. My team has already prepared the application, which might have already been submitted to the General Administration. Moreover, I haven't engaged in any advertising activities yet; I've just found a management team, which doesn't count as a violation."

"How can you do this! Disorganized and undisciplined. You should have reported to the center first, not bypass it to go directly to the General Administration," Director Sun seemed both angry and embarrassed.

Zhang Guan shrugged, "I followed the normal procedure. Moreover, the General Administration has regulations that a portion of athletes' bonuses, advertising, and other income should be contributed to the association's reward fund and the national sports fund. I will definitely comply with this. I believe everything should be done according to the rules and the law."

"You... you..." Director Sun stomped his foot in anger, "I'll report this to the leadership right now!"

With that, Director Sun turned and left. Manager Wang and Lawyer Zhu exchanged glances, looking even more at a loss, but they both knew their trip was in vain.

The most frustrated was Manager Wang. If he had known Zhang Guan already had a management team, he wouldn't have gone through so much trouble to find connections at the Athletics Management Center. Thinking about the efforts he had made in the past few days to secure this endorsement, Manager Wang felt more wronged than Dou'e!

...

The 'Notice on the Management of Athletes Engaging in Advertising and Business Activities' was issued by the former State Sports Commission, which is now called the General Administration of Sport. He Yiming guessed that if the application went through the Athletics Association, it wouldn't be approved, so he decided to bypass the association and submit the prepared application directly to the General Administration.

The General Administration was hesitant about this application. In principle, they didn't want to approve it, but they couldn't find a reason to reject it according to the regulations. Moreover, the application was accompanied by a thick stack of legal documents, which provided ample legal basis. Rejecting it would require a very solid reason.

In the office of the director, Director Hou looked at the application, feeling very uncertain.

The commercialization of sports is a trend for the future. The country needs development and construction, and money is needed everywhere. The limited state funding can't support the entire sports industry, so in recent years, things like sports lotteries have been issued, and major sports leagues have undergone large-scale reforms to introduce commercial operation models. These are all efforts to commercialize the sports industry. Since Yao Ming's team was formed, the establishment of dedicated management teams by domestic athletes is not unprecedented. Given the precedent, there is a reasonable basis for approval.

However, the national conditions are different. Athletes are assets of the state, and commercialization could bring many problems. Even if it doesn't lead to a loss of control over athletes, the economic benefits could mislead many athletes and cause them to lose their direction and self-discipline.

"What should I do?" Director Hou's pen kept tapping on the paper, unsure whether to write "approved" or "not approved."

At this moment, Director Hou's phone rang. At his level, the normal procedure would be to contact his secretary first, so anyone who could call him directly must be a close acquaintance.

Director Hou answered the phone and exchanged a few pleasantries. The topic of the conversation then made him serious.

The call was to support Zhang Guan's application.

This surprised Director Hou. The person on the other end was also someone of status, but not closely related to the sports industry. The fact that he was willing to support Zhang Guan was already surprising, and the timing of the call, which came just after the application was submitted, indicated that the person had considerable influence.

Director Hou was still hesitant, weighing the pros and cons. He was a very responsible person, and with retirement approaching, he was even more cautious in making decisions. This was his sense of responsibility and duty.

At this moment, the phone rang again. Director Hou answered, and it was another person supporting Zhang Guan.

The fact that two people were willing to act as advocates made Director Hou realize that Zhang Guan alone couldn't have done this. Looking at the thick stack of legal documents, Director Hou suspected that Zhang Guan's management team was not simple.

He began to flip through the list of "Champion Team" members attached to the documents.

"Liu Jing, lawyer; Xu Xiuji, advertising company; Hong Zinan, public relations; Zhou Hanlin, accountant; Zhuge Wenbo, exclusive agent. Quite a complete team!" Director Hou then looked at the last name.

"He Yiming, Yiming Consulting... It's him! No wonder he could find those two advocates." At this moment, the puzzle in Director Hou's mind was solved, and he had a good idea of the whole situation.

Yiming Consulting was not well-known, and ordinary people might not have heard of it, but at Director Hou's level, he had at least heard of He Yiming.

Although the mystery was solved, Director Hou still hesitated, thinking about what to do. He was a principled person, and even with advocates, he would still consider the big picture in his decision-making.

"The commercialization of sports is a trend, and Zhang Guan's situation is special. It can be a trial, a form of exploration. But there must be a premise. Some things must be controlled to prevent chaos." With this in mind, Director Hou made his decision and wrote his comments.

...

In the meeting room of the Athletics Association, a discussion was underway about Zhang Guan's formation of the Champion Team.

"Principally, we will approve it as long as it does not affect normal training, competition results, or bring negative impacts," the president read the comments and turned the application to face everyone, saying, "These are the personal comments of the leadership of the General Administration."

"What does the leadership mean? Usually, the General Administration doesn't get involved in the management of athletes by the associations!" a leader beside him said.

"Perhaps the leadership wants to explore this area," the president didn't delve into the leadership's thoughts but turned to Director Luo and asked, "Director Luo, you are in charge of the specific business operations at the Athletics Management Center. The commercial operations of Liu Feiren were well-handled by the center, and you have experience. What's your opinion?"

Director Luo was the vice president of the Athletics Association and the director of the Athletics Management Center. In the domestic system, each association has a management center responsible for specific business operations, and the leader of the management center is usually a vice president of the association.

Director Luo cleared his throat and said, "In recent years, we have conducted some commercial operations for Liu Feiren, which is an attempt to explore the commercial value of athletes. Although we have achieved some success, I believe there is still a lot of room for improvement. In terms of commercial operations, I admit that we are not as good as professional agents. Therefore, I think the leadership's idea is that forming a management team and participating in commercial activities are acceptable, but there must be limits. These limits are the conditions set by the leadership of the General Administration: not affecting normal training, competition results, or bringing negative impacts. The leadership's vision is forward-looking, so I suggest we follow the leadership's instructions and allow Zhang Guan to form a management team, but we cannot completely abandon supervision."

"If we open this door, other athletes might follow suit, which would not be conducive to our management. Once athletes have money, they might not be as obedient. They might be busy with commercial activities and even skip competitions," a bald man beside him said.

The bald man was also a vice president of the association.

During his tenure, Director Luo discovered Liu Feiren and Zhang Guan, who won two gold medals in the Olympic sprint events, a solid achievement. The organization was very satisfied with Director Luo's performance at the Athletics Management Center. There were rumors within the sports system that Director Luo might be promoted.

If Director Luo were promoted, the position of director of the Athletics Management Center would be vacant, and the most likely successor would be another vice president, President Qu.

President Qu's position was that the commercial value of athletes should be managed by the association. As he said, he was very concerned that once athletes had a lot of money, they might not listen to the Athletics Management Center. President Qu did not want the biggest star under his command to be disobedient in the future, so he opposed Zhang Guan forming a management team.

The president's face was expressionless, and it was unclear whether he saw through President Qu's intentions. After weighing the pros and cons, he said, "Since the General Administration has made comments, we must implement them seriously. I suggest we follow the leadership's instructions and agree to Zhang Guan forming a management team to handle his personal commercial value. This can be a pilot project in our management of athletes, but it must not affect normal training or competition results, and it must not cause negative impacts."

"At the same time, we must set three rules. If Zhang Guan's commercial activities affect normal training, competition results, or cause negative impacts, we will order him to dissolve the management team, and the center will handle his commercial value."

Director Luo nodded in agreement. In terms of commercial operations, he had no experience, so he was more concerned about the "pilot" aspect.

President Qu also agreed. The "three rules" were not clearly defined. What constitutes "affecting normal training"? What constitutes "affecting competition results"? What constitutes "causing negative impacts"? Training for five hours one day and four and a half hours the next—does that count as affecting training? Breaking a world record in one competition and only winning a championship in the next—does that count as affecting competition results? There were no clear definitions. In President Qu's view, the final interpretation and decision-making power still lay with the association. As long as the association was willing, it could find any excuse to order Zhang Guan to dissolve his management team.

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Chapter 2 is delivered, a few hours earlier because I'm on night duty today, and the internet will be cut off in the evening, so I took the opportunity to organize my thoughts. The head of the association should be called "Chairman," but to avoid issues, I changed it to "President," which sounds a bit off. Thanks to the readers gigiliu5277, Moon's Madness, _修书暴徒_, Big1Cheng, Star Snow Soft, Occasionally Look, Small Town Fun, Zhu Luoyan, Class 1 Bad Hand, 9922392, Handsome Sticky, and Red Mansion Rain for their support. Thanks.

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