Chinese official media and web users have poured scorn on local government officials for giving tennis star Li Na a six-figure bonus for winning the Australian Open.
Li was presented with a cheque by the governor of her home province Hubei when she returned early this week, and Chinese internet users accused officials of wasting taxpayers' money.
Li opted out of China's rigid state sports system in 2008 to go it alone, hiring her own coaches and controlling more of her winnings in a career-defining move, and regularly says she represents only herself.
The Hubei provincial government previously gave her a 600,000 yuan bonus after her historic first grand slam triumph, the 2011 French Open, which she later donated to a local nursing home.
The Beijing News has defended Li and branded local officials as opportunists.
