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PRESIDENT'S FORUM |
| The Glue issue resurfaces (see response below) |
| Dec 21 2004 |
| Dear Michael,
(reponse from Michael Bachtler, President of F.I.T, can be found below this letter)
I am very disturbed by the campaign your company is waging regarding the glue issue. It is insulting to the Japanese TTA, insulting to the ITTF Board of Directors and frankly insulting to my intelligence. |
The research you conducted and provided to me, which I forwarded to the Chairman of the ITTF working group on the matter, is good information and will be taken into consideration by the working group in its work and final recommendations to the ITTF Board of Directors. However, the notices that you are posting on your web-site and the information you are circulating is irresponsible to say the least. I wish you would cease and desist from spreading any more information regarding this subject.
The fact is that the Board of Directors has passed a regulation and that regulation must be implemented. The work of the working group is to advise the ITTF on how to properly implement this new regulation, respecting the steps and time-lines passed by the Board, and on how to develop detection mechanisms to implement the regulation as it was passed. Any other activity would be considered outside the mandate of the working group and not conforming to the decision made by the Board of Directors.
Now coming back to your research, it is much appreciated and will contribute to the work of the committee. But very frankly it can not be used in any way to change the decision of the Board of Directors. Just from a scientific as well as practical point of view your research leaves a lot to be desired. it was conducted in similar actual conditions as the players have when gluing. But the research was done once. What about cumulative effects? What about the following questions:
- inhalation of fumes repeatedly on a daily basis over a long period of time, over many years?
- accidental introduction of contaminated hand or finger in the mouth or nose?
- accidental swallowing of the glue by an innocent bystander if the glue pot is left open and unattended as we have often seen in clubs and even in competitions?
- the fact that ingesting the solvents currently available in glues is proven to be cancerous and hence the warnings on the labels?
- what about the fact that the current glues are flammable?
- what about the fact that the current glues are not allowed on air-crafts?
As you can see the issue is not only a simple matter of a one-day test trying to prove that the quantity of harmful substances are negligible. The issue is that we wish to have "ZERO" tolerance when matters of health and safety are concerned.
Although your research is appreciated, I would rather see you invest in researching alternative glues that would be water-based and that would still have a good positive effect as far as players' techniques are concerned. I would prefer to see you research the effects of combinations of new blades with new glue to provide the desired current effect. The focus should not only be on glue, but also on counteracting any negative effects of new glues with new blades. With this regard I am very open to introducing new rules allowing some modifications to the composition of blades, which, by the way, most companies are doing already illegally. But I wish for the Equipment Committee to propose new rules to better regulate blades and their composition.
So, as you see, there are more positive routes to take in order to reach to the same desired goal while ensuring that our sport is completely clean regardless of how small the level of toxicity of current glues may be.
I sincerely hope you join us in a positive campaign and in the production of new glues and that will help the ITTF achieve its desired goal of implementing the rule as passed by the Board of Directors.
By the way, you will be invited to express your views in February at a meeting of the working group in Lausanne.
I take this opportunity to wish you, your family and your staff a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year, and I am sure that the cooperation between our two organizations will continue in the future.
Sincerely,
Adham Sharara
ITTF President
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Dear Adham,
I confirm receipt of your mail regarding the glue matter.
You know that I am a friend of “frank words” - I have to tell you that I am more than angry about the content of the first paragraph of your letter.
1. “your company” nothing was made by my company JOOLA !!, but everything was made by FIT. I cannot understand why you addressed this letter to JOOLA and I really hope in the interest of our personal relationship that this was made by mistake. I therefore continue to answer under this presumption!
The FIT General Meeting gave order to the FIT Board in Doha to arrange own researches. This and all further steps were done by the unanimous decision of all members of the FIT Board.
2. “campaign” and “waging” sounds like war. The FIT intention never was to fight against the ITTF but only to bring some light into the darkness, in which everybody (ITTF, Associations, Players and Manufacturers) stand in this important matter.
3. “insulting”. Very sorry, but I have to strongly contradict the imputation that FIT wants to insult anybody of the Table Tennis Family, neither the JTTA nor the ITTF Board and in no case the ITTF President. (I presume that my English-German dictionary gives the correct explanation for the word “insult” and I would like to mention, that in my opinion such wording does not fit the respectful way the ITTF and FIT have cooperated in the past).
So far my personal remarks. As far as the facts in your letter are concerned I will come back to you after negotiations with my Board early in January.
Thank you for your wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year ˆ I repeat it personally and in the name of all FIT members and can confirm to you that the good cooperation between the ITTF and FIT was and will never be in discussion.
Best regards,
Michael Bachtler
CEO of JOOLA Tischtennis and F.I.T. President
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