Bang of the DTTB: The table tennis season is cancelled

Bang of the DTTB: The table tennis season is cancelled

Reason vs. Heart: Did the officials of the DTTB make the right decision? We probably never thought that such a scenario would ever occur in our active career... However, the current Corona crisis is the trigger for one of the most historic decisions in table tennis. Since the founding of the DTTB on November 8, 1925, few events have caused so much excitement in a decision: The German Table Tennis Association decided on April 1st, 2020 (and no, it's not an April Fool's joke) that the 2019/2020 season will be canceled and that the last standings now also represent the valid final table. Just as we as players, coaches and officials did not anticipate this scenario; neither does the set of rules of the DTTB. The decision can therefore not be fully justified on the basis of paragraphs. This shows us that the corona virus not only requires special decisions in politics and business, but also in table tennis. First of all, this decision should be a real relief for many clubs. The clubs, players and coaches now have better planning security and can prepare better for the coming season. Especially in the highest leagues of the DTTB with paid players, it is very important to know in which league or even with which team size you want to play in the coming year. Because livelihoods are also linked to this decision. TuS Bad Driburg is a prominent team that has already announced its withdrawal from the 1st Women's Bundesliga. The economic uncertainty of the clubs therefore has a major impact on the change of players and coaches within Germany and Europe. We will therefore monitor the news and changes even more closely in the coming weeks and months. The consequences of the decision are certainly anything but fair and just. Teams that have played fewer games are massively disadvantaged as a result. The question we have therefore asked ourselves is: would there even be a fair solution for everyone? Our answer was: no. Those responsible were forced to make a universal decision that represents the interests of clubs, players and coaches. We also respect the decision and have great respect for the courage of this decision. However, we also asked ourselves another question: What would have been the fairest solution? Mytischtennis.de has started a survey for this: You can find the results for the current status (05.04.2020) here: A particular criticism of the solution was that the sometimes very unequal number of games played is not taken into account. It is logical that a team with more games can also tend to have more points. We were also “surprised” by this decision at first and we found it extremely strange. However, the rules of the competition have shed some light into the darkness. There it is stipulated that

1. games played must be counted.
2. a cancellation or an extension of the season is not permitted.

Now we are not legal experts. However, it seems that this solution is the most unassailable of all solutions according to officials, lawyers and the rules of the game. Here we would like to refer to the statement of the DTTB on this topic: https://www.tischtennis.de/news/corona- crisis-questions-and-answers-to-den-backgrounds-of-the-regulation-for-den-team-games-operations.html We can only urge you to accept and accept this decision as it is. As unfair as the decision may be in individual cases: with calls for protests or boycotts we only harm ourselves and our sport. It is imperative to accept the decisions without amendment. This is the only way our beloved sport can soon be back to "normal" without any worries. Here, too, we can refer to a blog article by myTischtennis that takes a position on this topic: https://www.mytischtennis.de/public/blog/14572/blog--not-the-beste-solution-for-the-largest-possible-majority/ In addition to the negative perspectives, there may even be opportunities for table tennis in general and for the clubs: it seems that table tennis is very popular as a hobby “at home”. Possibly even a potential for future member acquisition can be seen here. We are therefore trying to see the positive in the current situation and seize new opportunities. We also want to look at the situation from a different perspective: other sports such as football are hit much harder than we are in table tennis. We should be aware of that right now. Football is about three-digit million amounts and more than 100,000 jobs in Germany alone. This shows that the dimensions are significantly larger there. In table tennis we are therefore lucky in disguise. However, one thing is certain: The longer the forced break lasts, the more you look forward to it starting again. But now to you: How do you see the effects of the corona virus in table tennis? You are welcome to leave us your opinions on the decisions in the comments. We are happy! Best regards Your Sauer & Tröger team Share on facebook Facebook Share on google google+ Share on whatsapp Whatsapp Greetings from the Sauer & Tröger team You might like it too: