The dismissal of the German table tennis record champions Borussia Düsseldorf as Champions League winners due to the subsequent re-admission of two Russian clubs should again come under legal scrutiny. The executive of the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) has applied to the sports tribunal (BoA) of the association for a reopening of the proceedings based on new information. The corresponding ETTU notice left open when the judges would decide on the challenge.
The original ETTU verdict at the end of April after protests by the Russian association and the affected clubs Fakel Orenburg and UMMC Yekaterinburg caused a stir. In contrast to the legal assessment of all other continental sports associations including the European Football Union (UEFA), the ETTU judges classified the exclusion of Russian clubs from European competitions because of Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine as illegal.
Because club teams should not be treated as representatives of their countries, the table tennis lawyers ordered both the resumption of the canceled semi-final between the two Russian clubs and the subsequent staging of a final between the winner and Düsseldorf with German star Timo Boll.
The Rhinelanders, who were declared the winners of the premier class after the Russians were eliminated as winners of the second semi-final, have categorically ruled out a final duel with a Russian club since the beginning of the war. For the ETTU leadership, the German Vice President Heike Ahlert had already described the resumption of the game as “not an option”.
Challenging the judgment could pave the way out of a dilemma for the ETTU. If the verdict were to remain in place, at least for the time being, the association would have to admit Russian clubs to its European Cup competitions in the new season. In order to prevent this development, apart from the hoped-for correction of the verdict, only a principle action before the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne against the BoA decision or a subsequent termination of the season that has already ended without a winner would be possible. With this variant, a renewed, but legally contestable exclusion of Russian clubs would also be possible for 2022/23, at least initially.