Extract of IOC rules concerning 

Continental Qualification Tournaments

Players will be qualified through Continental Qualification events, held between August 2007 and 15 April 2008, according to the following distribution:

Each Continental Federation is responsible for holding its own qualification events but they must provide the ITTF with the planning of the qualification events (dates, places and number of players to qualify in each Tournament) before 31 December 2006, as well as the names of the qualified players after each qualifying event according to the above quota and according to the established timelines.
 

Use of the Olympic symbol

The Olympic symbol must not be used with respect to the organisation of a Qualification Tournament.

Use of the word “Olympic” by Organisers of a Qualification Tournament

It is acceptable for the organisers of a Qualification Tournament to refer to such Tournament as the “[name of the sport + region] – Qualification for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games” in general unbranded advertising (- i.e. without sponsorship) of such Tournament.

If advertising by the organisers contains the name of any sponsor, the Tournament should be referred to only as “[name of the sport + region] Qualification Tournament”, without reference to the word “Olympic” or the “2008 Beijing Olympic Games” in the title. However, organisers may include a factual reference that the competition is serving as the qualification tournament for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, provided that this factual reference is made in such a way that the word “Olympic”, or the reference to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, does not appear to promote the sponsor or its products or services (- e.g. smaller font, far removed from the reference to the sponsor).

All other uses of the word “Olympic”, or references to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, require prior review and approval by the IOC.
 

Use of Sponsor name in the Title of a Qualification Tournament

The name of a sponsor may be included in the title of a Qualification Tournament if the sponsor is an Olympic sponsor, in the concerned product category, in the territory(ies) in which sponsorship rights for the Qualification Tournament will be exercised – e.g. “[name of the title sponsor][name of the sport + region] Qualification Tournament”, without reference to the word “Olympic” or the “2008 Beijing Olympic Games” in the title.

Advertisements by the organiser of a Qualification Tournament and such title (- i.e. Olympic) sponsor may include a factual reference that the competition is serving as the qualification tournament for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, provided that this factual reference is made in such a way that the word “Olympic”, or the reference to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, does not appear to promote the sponsor or its products or services (- e.g. smaller font, far removed from the reference to the sponsor).

On the other hand, there may be a title sponsorship of a Qualification Tournament by a company who is not an Olympic sponsor, provided that the word “Olympic”, or a reference to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, is not used in any way in connection with the Qualification Tournament.
 

Qualification Competitions organized specifically to determine eligibility for the Olympic Games

The organizers of qualification competitions for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing in 2008 must ensure that only athletes who are eligible to compete for their respective teams/countries at such Olympic Games, according to the IOC’s rules of eligibility (pursuant to the Olympic Charter), are allowed to compete in such competition.
 

Competitions Organised regardless of whether they serve as qualification competitions for the Olympic Games

If the competition which determines which athletes or teams are eligible to compete in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games was not specifically organized for such purpose (- i.e. if the competition was a regularly scheduled continental championships which would have taken place regardless of the qualifications for the Olympic Games), the Organisers should ensure that, before such competition is held, all the athletes who intend to compete therein, as well as their NOCs, are made aware of any differences between the ITTF eligibility criteria and the IOC eligibility criteria. This will help to avoid misunderstandings with respect to the athletes who are, and who are not, eligible to compete in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The organisers should address, as best as possible, the implications of the possibility that certain athletes competing in the qualification competition will not be eligible to compete in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.