But no Champions League title for Borussia Düsseldorf, instead both the Russian semi-final duel between Orenburg and Yekaterinburg and the final have to be rescheduled. That was the verdict of the Board of Appeal, the sports court of the European Table Tennis Union ETTU.
Vice-President Heike Ahlert recounts a verdict that has been discussed intensively in the Association’s Executive Committee in recent weeks. After consulting legal experts, the executive branch has now decided “that we will go back to the Board of Appeal on the basis of our constitution. That if we have new arguments, we can call the Board of Appeal again. We have done now, with the request that the final cannot be played for a number of reasons.”
ETTU: new assessment by the Sports Court
The internal sports court should therefore evaluate the case again, but Heike Ahlert does not want to give any more details about the arguments of the ETTU executive due to the ongoing proceedings. However, Borussia Düsseldorf had already announced after the first sports court ruling that it would not play against Russian clubs under any circumstances.
Press spokesman Alexander Schilling emphasized on WDR at the time: “We won’t say, because the subject is somehow being raised again, now we’ll play against the Russians. That won’t happen, that’s a very clear stance from our club.”
Russian association president leaves office
The European association was headed by Igor Levitin, a former member of Putin’s cabinet, until shortly after the start of the war. He is leaving his position at the European Table Tennis Association on hold until further notice.
Vice-President Heike Ahlert finds it difficult to imagine that all member associations will agree to Levitin’s return to the ETTU executive. “Of course we are also considering whether we need to include appropriate provisions in our constitution that simply ensure the issue of good governance even more. I think this is also an issue that will keep us busy for a long time to come.”
Legal tug-of-war over sanctions in football too
In the case of the Russian clubs, the Executive Committee is now hoping for a quick decision from its own sports court. The next legal step may then be pending: going before the International Court of Arbitration for Sport CAS. This has already happened in other sports. Russian football clubs have appealed against being banned from European competitions. A decision by the CAS is still pending.