Table-tennis Olympian Doan Kien Quoc, hurt and disappointed with the way he has been treated by provincial authorities despite decades of service, has informed themhe wants to leave at the end of this month.

“I have devoted more than 20 years of my life to the province. I have brought the province a lot of recognition in competitions for children, juniors, youth and adult teams and at the Nhan Dan newspaper competition.

“I brought the province glory when I was Vietnam’s only table-tennis player chosen to compete at the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games. I have won Southeast Asian men’s singles, men’s double’s and men’s team championships.

“I have won the national men’s singles championships four times and the national excellent table-tennis players championships five times. I received a certificate of merit from Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in 2007.

“I have been chosen as excellent player of the year in 1996, 2004 and 2008. I am now a member of the Vietnam Table-tennis Federation’s Steering Committee.

“In return for these achievements, however, I still live in want and my future is uncertain.”

Quoc said he has been so busy with competitions the he was not able to get the supplementary high school graduation certificate (after taking evening classes) until he was 23 years old in 2002.

Two years later, Quoc was admitted to an in-service university course in physical training and sports organized for the province’s best athletes.

However, only 10 days into the course, Quoc had to give it up to compete in the 2004 Athens Olympics qualifying round.

Quoc said he had asked the province’s sports sector to let him withdraw from the competition to take care of his future, but the locality just pushed him forward because his achievement in competition was more important to them.

Quoc said he felt unhappy recently when he saw athletes his age like Pham Dinh Khanh Doan, Pham Thi Thu Lan and Doan Nu Truc Van receive university degrees.

A university degree means they will find a stable position in the sports sector while Quoc still has nothing.

Quoc’s contributions to Khanh Hoa Province are many, but provincial sports authorities have failed him.

Last year, for instance, provincial officials were so excited when he was offered a place at the Olympic Games that some sports officials promised to take good care of him, including recommending that the provincial People’s Committee grant him a plot of land and a house at a low price.

However, the officials seem to have forgotten their promises and at 30, Quoc feels he is wasting his time waiting in vain.

Quoc has had a girlfriend for years but he can’t think of starting a family of his own because the allowance he receives is “not enough for petrol” as his father Doan Tinh puts it.

This is not the first time he has asked to leave the local club. Last year, he wanted to leave after he returned from the Olympics because he could see concerned agencies in the province were not going to fulfill their promises.

Now it is near the end of March and Quoc can’t wait any longer. “I don’t think the center will keep its promises. Some localities want me to play for them with a good salary and great benefits. I must think of my future now so I have to leave.”

Meanwhile, Deputy Director Nguyen Van Hoa of the province’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism told Thanh Nien: “The department has asked the provincial People’s Committee to have plans to take good care of excellent athletes and artists who have made huge contributions to the province. They will be granted land plots, given chances to buy houses at a low price and improve their education. The provincial authorities have said they would call on enterprises to support increased allowances for athletes.”

However, Hoa also said it was just a proposal and it is the provincial People’s Committee who will make the final decision.

Reported by Nhut Quang