A.1 Actually in Canada table tennis, or more precisely “Ping Pong”, is a very popular activity. It is played in many homes as a recreation activity. But also the Canadian Table tennis Association has done a lot of work in developing the sport. It is true that table tennis is not a top sport in Canada, but it is improving year by year. It is not strange that a Canadian becomes president of the ITTF. At this moment a Swiss is president of the Ice Hockey Federation, and a Swiss is also President of FIFA. In fact, in the ITTF it was a tradition to alternate Presidents from Europe and Asia. I decided to break this tradition and to open up the process based on merit and not based on Nationality. Being a Canadian, I know how difficult it is to develop our sport and how we must compete with the bigger sports. This makes me very sensitive to the needs and challenges of the developing nations, while respecting and understanding the needs of the top nations in our sport.
Q.2 Unfortunately we have to state, that it will be more and more difficult to win younger people to practice any sport in the time being. Table tennis has also been suffering from that development. Unfortunately the number of young people who practice table tennis in Germany has been reduced permanently for many years. Can you confirm this development also for the area outside of Germany and if you agree, what are the reasons in your opinion?
A.2 Young people today have many more choices of activities and distractions. Twenty years ago traditional sport was a very good activity for young people. But now we have to compete with “new age” sports, computer games, the Internet and the entertainment business. It is not easy to keep the same number of participants as before. It is a question of marketing. The market is now divided amongst many more activities. We must gain a larger market share. This means that we must market our sport better. We must make it easier to play, more fun for beginners, we must innovate, we must make our sport modern and exciting. All these are marketing challenges and we must rise to the challenge. Germany is not the only country; also many countries saw a steady decline in membership. But now over the last 2-3 years some countries such as Japan, France and Sweden are seeing a small increase in numbers. It’s a good sign, but we must do more.
Q.3 Therefore the question raises indeed, how can achieve to organise our sport more attractive for children and younger people and for the media as well. Since your presidency in 1999 ITTF has decided some essential modifications of the laws of table tennis, which did not find the consent of the majority of players all over the world yet. I remind of the introduction of the 40 mm-balls, the new score system and the new service regulation. Do you have the impression that we got closer to the aspired object with these modifications? Do you think of further alterations?
A.3 If our sport were very popular, if our sport were on TV everyday, if our players were recognised in the street, if our clubs were full of players and if our sport was the top in each country, then we would not need to make any changes. Unfortunately this is not the case. As you noted in the previous question there was an alarming decline in the popularity and participation levels of our sport all over the world. So something had to be done. We are doing the best we can. Maybe we are wrong, but we must take some risks and we must make some changes to improve. Of course many people do not like changes, and perhaps they do not like the type of changes that we made over the last 3 years. But we had to make some choices, take some risks and bring about some change. If we succeed in improving our sport, then everyone will be happy. If we fail, then we will leave and give a chance to another group to try. I do not think that we will propose any immediate changes in the game itself. Now we will concentrate our efforts on our programmes, on a better and more attractive presentation of our events and in trying to develop the sport in all continents. Perhaps some more changes will come at a later date in a few years from now.
Q.4 On principle, in this context the question of legal quality of such ITTF decisions raises for many players, if the laws of table tennis will be modified by these decisions. Are the member organisations of the ITTF obliged to take over these decisions also in the national laws of table tennis?
A.4 The ITTF is a federation of National Table Tennis Associations. The ITTF governs at the international level only. Each National Federation is autonomous and independent from the ITTF within its own territory. So in principle each National federation could set its own rules. But for consistency and continuity many National federations follow the ITTF even within their own territory.
Q.5 The majority of these players cannot understand that ITTF decided an essentially necessary new regulation to avoid a hidden service, which is only badly comprehensible. In so far there are a lot of problems to realise a service according to regulation. In an interview with the Magazine "German Table Tennis Sport (DTS) you have said among other things: “The referees are the biggest problem at present”. But if this is the case for the Professionals, how big must be the problems in "normal" championship matches, in which the referee functions must normally take over by players of both teams? Are you also not under the impression that the new regulation might only have been decided if this rule had been tested sufficiently in the practice previously?
A.5 The new Service Rule was tested extensively. We do not need to test it anymore. The problem is that we have two sets of people affected directly by the new Service Rule: a) the players, and b) the Umpires. The players were able with very little adjustment and some practice to perform the service according to the new rule. There were very few problems in the beginning with players. Unfortunately, the umpires were not able to implement the rule according to the new specifications. In my opinion many Umpires have failed to implement rules correctly for a long time. It is the new service rule that highlighted this problem even more. There is no shame to admit that our Umpires are not well trained. I am the first to admit that this is a problem and that the ITTF was at fault. We never really trained International Umpires. We just tested them on their knowledge of the rules, and we occasionally assess them. But no real training takes place. I also must say that umpires at the international level do not have enough activity in one season, so they are not ready for the big events. This is a reality and we are working very hard to improve the situation. Of course if the umpires have difficulty I implementing the new service rule, we could assume two things: either the rule is no good, or the umpires are not competent enough. So what do we do? Do we make our rules for the umpires or for the players? Perhaps for both.
Q.6 I think that the ITTF – Rules Committee has drafted a very reasonable recommendation for the server, that is to project the ball so that it rises at least 30 cm after leaving the palm of the free hand. This recommendation would have reduced the problems. Why did ITTF not take over this suggestion?
A.6 The 30cm recommendation is not a solution. At this moment the rule indicates 16cm. Why would 30 cm be better? There were neither experiments nor tests to prove this.
Q.7 Coming now to Veterans Table Tennis Sport: In Germany there are registered more than 200.000 Veterans, who have been playing also in "normal" teams. In addition, many of them have been taking part in matches, which are played only by Veterans. Finally, table tennis sport would hardly be possibly in Germany without the honorary activities of Veterans in our Table Tennis Clubs. In other countries like England, Netherlands, Sweden and some eastern countries Veterans table tennis activities are also considerable. In so far it is generally noticed and unexpected that ITTF – Handbook has not mentioned this kind of table tennis sport yet. Even Veterans World Championships are not included. Does it mean that ITTF thinks only little or nothing of Veterans Table Tennis Sport
A.7 The ITTF thinks that Veterans table tennis is very important. As you stated there are big numbers and we want this activity to continue. Also the ITTF did not have any activity or recognition of Junior events. Now we have started with a Junior Circuit in 2002 and we will start with yearly World Championships for Juniors in 2003. The structure of the Veterans competitions was started from outside the ITTF with the Swaythling Club International and the World Veterans Championships, which is recognised by the ITTF. Now we have very close co-operation between the ITTF and these organisations. This month we will start a section on the ITTF web site for Veterans.
Q.8 On the other hand ITTF established a Working Group Veterans Sport about two years ago. However, up to now this group has not contacted the official Veterans Committee of DTTB nor DER CLUB in order to discuss problems of Veterans Table Tennis Sport in the national and international field. Which are the tasks or terms of reference of this Working Group? Why does this Group only consist of representatives, in whose countries Veterans Table Tennis Sport doesn’t play any role?
A.8 The ITTF Veterans Working group is a group trying to facilitate the contact between the Swaythling Club, World veterans Championships and the ITTF. It is not a deciding body. This group reports to the ITTF Board of Directors and provides recommendations. Representatives from each Continent form the group. It is important for us that all our actions involve members from all continents and not only representatives from countries that have top activity.
Q.9 Does ITTF intend later on to establish a Veterans Committee in accordance with a supplemented Constitution?
A.9 I am not sure what the result of our consultations will be. Perhaps we will have a Veterans Committee if this is the recommendation made by the working group.
Q.10 As you know, there are Veterans World Championships every two years since 1982 with meanwhile big success. At the last event 2002 in Lucerne about 2700 players have taken part. The participation fee increased from 30 CHF in the year 1982 (Göteborg) to meanwhile 150,-CHF in 2004 (Yokohama). Furthermore, the participants had to pay in Lucerne a charge of 50 - CHF additionally, if they had booked a hotel, which was not recommended by the organiser. Meanwhile we are under the impression that participation fee will still increase and will therefore be no more payable to many Veterans although the athletic qualification exists. We are worried that the big success of the Veterans World Championships will suffer from this development long-term. How does the ITTF see this problem?
A.10 It is an economical problem. To organise the World veterans Championships is a very expensive proposition. Also veterans World Championships do not attract sponsors nor TV coverage. Therefore the organisers must find the money from some place. Unfortunately they charge the participants. This is the reality.
Q.11 Furthermore there was to be registered in Lucerne, that the organiser has decided alterations of the rules at short notice, that didn't agree with the announcement. So the allowed play time/set was shortened, and we had to play with white balls instead of the announced yellow balls. Will the ITTF decide in foreseeable time uniform regulations and standards for Veterans World Championships that are to be observed by all involved people and organisers?
A.11 It depends on the recommendations made to the ITTF by the working group. Of course if the veterans World Championships became an event of the ITTF, then ITTF rules would have to be strictly enforced. At the moment the Veterans World Championships are not part of the ITTF programme, they are just “recognised” by the ITTF.
Q.12 Mr. Sharara, many of our club members are interested in documents, rules or other publications of the ITTF. Are there such documents also in German language and if yes, how can they be acquired?
A.12 Yes, many ITTF documents are available in German either from the ITTF web site or from the German Table tennis Association (DTTB)
Mr. Sharara, thank you very much for this interview. I wish you and ITTF much success to form Table Tennis Sport further more attractively. DER CLUB Deutsche Tischtennis-Senioren will always support your efforts concerned with our national area and in co-operation with the International Veterans Society (Veterans International) in the international field as well.
