A 51-year-old unemployed man from mainland China has been handed over to local judicial authorities after allegedly posting defamatory material online against a female member of the city’s table tennis team.

According to the Judiciary Police, the athlete reported the incident on Sept. 11 after discovering several online posts containing staged photographs.

The images showed two individuals outside the East Asian Games Dome holding a banner with debt-collection slogans, while wearing clothing with similar phrases.

The player told investigators she has no financial disputes with anyone and does not know the men in the photographs.

Following an investigation, police identified three suspects, including one man who allegedly took the photos.

The 51-year-old was intercepted at the Border Gate checkpoint on Sept. 13 upon entering Macau. He admitted to being paid RMB2,500 to stage the images without verifying their accuracy, and said he recruited two other men, who remain at large, to participate.

Authorities said the suspects entered the SAR on the day of the incident and left the city after the photos were taken. LV