A few days ago, Nigerian table tennis player Aruna posted a long article on Chinese social media against the WTT World Table Tennis Federation, which caused heated discussions among everyone.
Aruna is a dazzling new star that has emerged in the African table tennis scene in recent years, and he is also known as the "first brother in African table tennis" by fans.
The reason why Aruna is noticed by everyone, in addition to his skin color and the fact that he is in Africa, is more because Aruna is mostly alone when he participates in competitions, without a coach or sparring partner.
Fans who often follow the Chinese table tennis team should know that if the players of the Chinese table tennis team go abroad to participate in competitions, in addition to the coach, there are also a large number of logistics support personnel such as team doctors, physical fitness divisions, and sparring players.
It is also with the joint efforts of these logistics support personnel, coaches and athletes that the Chinese table tennis team has been able to prosper in the world table tennis arena for a long time.
However, Aruna's ability to stand on the field and achieve good results without these logistical supports, or even without a coach, is even more worthy of everyone's admiration.
In such a difficult environment, for Aruna, the prize money obtained by participating in the competition is even more important, and it is even related to whether he can continue to engage in table tennis, after all, he still has to live, if his life is not guaranteed, how can he still play?
That's what Aruna complained, and according to Aruna's own account, he has been penalized twice by WTT rankings plus fines in the last two months.
The first reason is that he was unable to participate in the World Table Tennis Championships held in Busan, South Korea a while ago because he suffered from diarrhea, and he was punished for not providing a doctor's diagnosis certificate to the ITTF in time.
The second is that the Incheon Championship held in South Korea some time ago and Aruna's club had a game time conflict, and Aruna chose to play for the club and was punished for not participating in the Incheon Championship.
In addition, Aruna also broke the news afterwards that he had not received the bonuses of the Doha Star Challenge, Goa Challenge, and Singapore Grand Slam tournaments he had participated in so far.
So, after weighing it, Aruna decided to play in the club's game instead of the Incheon Championship, after all, the club will pay Aruna on time.
Aruna, on the other hand, needs to use the money to support herself, her relatives, and her children.
After Aruna issued a long complaint, it instantly appeared on the hot search, which may be the reason why Aruna chose to break the news on Chinese social media.
After all, table tennis is China's national sport, and the Chinese table tennis team also has an absolute dominance in the world table tennis arena.
Just like before, some fans joked, in the circle of table tennis players, only those who can speak Chinese can become a top athlete.
Chinese fans did not disappoint Aruna either, although Liu Guoliang, the current president of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, is the first vice president of the ITTF and also serves as the chairman of the WTT board of directors.
But Chinese fans did not "protect the calf", but most of them stood on Aruna's side and supported him to continue to defend his rights.
Speaking of which, let's first understand the difference between WTT (World Table Tennis Federation) and ITTF (International Table Tennis Federation):
One
The ITTF was founded in 1926, while the World Table Tennis Federation was only established in 2019 by the ITTF, which is a subordinate body of the ITTF.
The ITTF is the governing body of the global sport of table tennis, responsible for organizing and managing world-class table tennis events.
Formulate and enforce rules and standards for table tennis competitions.
Supervise and ensure the fairness and impartiality of global table tennis competitions, and strive to promote the popularization and development of table tennis around the world.
The World Table Tennis Federation is strictly a commercial company, and its goal is to increase the influence of table tennis through commercialization and professional development.
Cooperate with major media and sponsors to hold commercial events to provide more competition opportunities and prize money for table tennis players.
Before 2019, table tennis players only participated in domestic competitions, world competitions and club competitions, including the ITTF Tour and Open Championships and the year-end finals.
Although there are many competitions, the prize money for each competition is not much, so in 2019, the ITTF established the World Table Tennis Federation, with Liu Guoliang as the head, to seek more income for athletes.
It was also after that that that the WTT Grand Slam and the Championship began to be held, both of which had much higher prize money than the previous Tour and Open tournaments.
From the original intention, WTT was founded to seek more benefits for athletes, that is to say, it itself is for athletes, and the prize money has indeed increased a lot, but there are indeed big problems in the actual operation process.
This point may be a common disease, or a common disease of the Chinese, that is, the above policy is very good, but when it is really implemented, the following is either to push three or hinder, or the text is not right, and the wronged are always at the bottom.
In WTT, athletes are at the bottom, or athletes who are not so strong or not so famous are at the bottom, just like Aruna.
If there is still controversy about his punishment for not participating in the World Table Tennis Championships in Busan and the Incheon Championships due to diarrhea and participating in club competitions, then the fact that he was owed prize money is indisputably a problem with WTT enforcement.
I believe that Aruna himself should have reported to the ITTF and the World Table Tennis Federation many times on this matter, but he has never received a satisfactory answer, so Aruna has no choice but to make this decision.
Exposing this matter through social media can indeed make more people pay attention to this matter, and put pressure on the ITTF through public opinion, so as to achieve the goal of resolving the matter.
However, Aruna will also fall out with the ITTF because of this, and it may be difficult to participate in tournaments organized by the ITTF or the World Table Tennis Federation in his career in the future, especially those invite-only competitions, where there are more black-box competitions.
In the long run, Aruna's move is not in the long-term interest, but as Aruna said that he needs the prize money to support his children, he must have no choice but to choose to expose the matter on social media.
Completely ignoring their own subsequent development.
thought that through this revelation, the ITTF should soon send him the bonus owed to him, and maybe even cancel the punishment against him, but who knows that it took several days for the ITTF to respond.
However, the content of the response was not what Aruna wanted to see.
Two
Recently, Steve Denton, CEO of the ITTF and WTT, responded to Aruna's complaint against the ITTF.
Steve Denton said that the ITTF World Ranking Rules and the WTT Tournament Handbook have clear rules for athletes to participate in and punish them, so the punishment for Aruna is based on the relevant regulations.
"These rules are by no means arbitrary, but have been carefully designed to ensure that our events always attract the best table tennis talent, thereby increasing the attractiveness and financial base of table tennis players. ”
In Aruna's complaint, he also said that he was punished because he was black, and Steve Denton also said: "We take the allegations of discrimination very seriously, and at WTTF, equality and fairness are not just principles, they are the cornerstone of everything we do, and it is vital to us that table tennis is a sport that can accommodate players from different backgrounds." ”
Regarding Aruna's inability to participate in the World Table Tennis Championships in Busan due to diarrhea and his punishment for not receiving a doctor's note, Steve Denton explained: "The WTT has been active in assisting Mr. Aruna in submitting the necessary medical documents in this matter, but unfortunately we received these documents after the World Table Tennis Championships in Busan, and the deadline has been missed. ”
Regarding Aruna's points penalty for missing the Incheon Championship, Steve Denton said: "Our regulations, including the zero penalty for individuals who refuse to play, are essential to preserve the economic integrity of the sport and promote its global growth, and these rules apply uniformly to all players to ensure fairness and consistency across all events. ”
At the same time, Steve Denton also said that if all athletes refused to participate in international sports events on the grounds of participating in club events without any penalty, then the existing framework for international competitions would no longer exist, which is not allowed in any sport.
Steve Denton also responded to Aruna's complaint about unpaid wages:
"On the one hand, as the players were notified during the Singapore Grand Slam, the player bonuses are currently underway, and the WTT will continue to work hard to release them in a timely manner. ”
Steve Denton's original response is very long, and the editor has taken a few responses to Aruna's complaints.
Through these texts, we can understand that within the ITTF and WTT, represented by Steve Denton, there is no problem with Aruna's punishment.
In fact, in this regard, as soon as Aruna posted on social media at that time, some netizens pointed out that any organization has rules, and the International Table Tennis Federation's punishment of Aruna is completely in accordance with the regulations.
As for Aruna's statement that he is African and black, etc., it is completely confusing, and the reason is that he did not provide a medical certificate to WTT within the required time.
At the same time, although Aruna said that he wanted to use the money to support Han's children, this was not a reason for him to represent the club and not participate in the Incheon Championship.
After all, since you want to eat table tennis, you should accept the rules specified by the ITTF, and this rule is not just for Aruna, but all table tennis players must abide by the rules of the ITTF, after all, "no rules are not a circle".
Of course, whether the ITTF rule is correct or not, we will discuss it later.
Among the questions that Aruna broke the news, everyone was most concerned about the arrears of bonuses, and Steve Denton did not answer this matter positively, but only said that it would be actively distributed, which was a bit vague.
And, after Denton's response, Aruna immediately launched a "counterattack".
Three
"So what, when will I get the prize money? I also know that some Chinese players are not getting the prize money they deserve, I had a meeting with WTT representatives a few days ago and there was no agreement! So I'm going to take them to court! It's not fair at all, I hope more athletes will come out and speak. ”
From Aruna's response, we can also feel that he is most concerned about the payment of bonuses, and he should also understand the punishment in his heart.
In fact, no matter who cares most about the prize money, to put it mildly, the reason why many athletes insist on participating in the competition, and they are very old and do not retire, a large part of it is because of the prize money.
Not only table tennis, no matter what profession you are engaged in, after doing the corresponding work, it is a matter of course to pay your salary.
In table tennis, playing is work, and since the athletes participate in the competition, then the prize money should be paid in time, on the other hand, it is their hard-earned money.
With that out of the way, let's talk about the WTT rules that we didn't talk about above.
Let's ignore whether this rule is reasonable or not, after all, there are a thousand Hamlets for a thousand people, and he targets all athletes, even if it is unreasonable, not against one athlete alone.
However, the timing of WTT Majors and Championships is always uncertain, and it is absolutely not right to go back and forth.
Let's talk about the Incheon Championship, and the Chongqing Championship later, the time is changing again and again, which makes it difficult for athletes to adjust their time, just like Aruna, after all, he also takes the salary of the club and has to play for the club.
In this case, WTT has been in arrears of bonuses, and I believe that anyone should choose to participate in club competitions, so this matter is ultimately caused by WTT's arrears of bonuses.
In Aruna's latest response, he hopes that more athletes will come forward and speak out, after all, he is not the only one who is owed prize money.
In fact, although these athletes did not stand up directly, they also supported Aruna with practical actions, and many players announced their retirement at the upcoming World Cup in Macau.
Among them are Bol, Falke, Han Ying and other table tennis stars, which is equivalent to supporting Aruna from the side.
Now, after Steve Denton's response, this matter has once again attracted everyone's attention, and many fans have said after watching Steve Denton's response:
"A push of nonsense"
"Nonsense literature"
"I talked a lot, but I didn't mention any key issues"
"Summary: It is true that the bonus was not paid, you have the ability to sue me"
If this continues, WTT's reputation among fans may continue to decline!
For Steve Denton's latest response, if you have any different thoughts and suggestions, please leave a message in the comment area to discuss.