Video footage shows Yao Ming in a short-sleeved shirt and jeans, was surrounded by dozens of cops. (Photo/Video screenshot)
(ECNS) -- Chinese basketball icon Yao Ming, the chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), showed up at the 2017 Yangtze River Delta Professional Basketball Clubs Challenge in Shanghai late Thursday, after an online rumor spread earlier in the day that he had been arrested for taking drugs, People's Daily Online reported.
Video footage circulated online Thursday afternoon showing Yao in a grey, short-sleeved shirt and jeans, was surrounded by dozens of cops, with his head lowered and his hands behind his back. An accompanying text message read, "What a pity that Yao Ming has been arrested for drug use! His reputation is now ruined, and it may have far-reaching implications on the next generation."
Later, a CBA employee told People's Daily Online that it was a rumor and that Yao had left for Shanghai to attend an event.
According to the report, the footage was shot on the afternoon of June 27, when Yao visited a stadium in Mianzhu City of Sichuan Province, where he watched Youth Basketball Tournament matches. The footage showed security officers escorting Yao out of the venue after the event, not "arresting him for drug use," it said.
The retired former NBA All-Star was elected head of the CBA in February.
