The TTC Neu-Ulm only plays in the Champions League, but no longer in the Bundesliga. The German Table Tennis Association (DTTB) has now decided: The Neu-Ulm model may no longer exist in the future.
The ambitious table tennis project of the TTC Neu-Ulm and its top player Dimitrij Ovtcharov is history in this form after this season. The Bundestag of the German Table Tennis Federation (DTTB) decided on Sunday with a large majority that from the coming season no German teams will be allowed to register for European competitions if they have previously been withdrawn from the Bundesliga or another national league.
It was a novelty when the TTC Neu-Ulm announced its exit from the Bundesliga in the spring and at the same time made its team fit for the Champions League with various star purchases. At that time, the DTTB had agreed, but at the same time announced a change to the regulations. This has now happened.
gap in the Federal game regulations closed
“As expected, the Bundestag closed a gap in the federal playing regulations with a large majority that became apparent last year through the TTC Neu-Ulm,” the association said in a statement. “For participation in the Champions League, ETTU Cup and Europe Trophy for women and men, only German club teams that play in the TTBL or the other federal leagues must submit an application to the DTTB to register for this competition with the European Table Tennis Union may pose.”
In the future, the aim is to avoid “clubs withdrawing from playing at national level in order to pool resources solely for participation in international competitions,” it continues. The attractiveness of the Bundesliga should be preserved in this way. The regulation comes into effect on January 1 July 2024 and does not affect the current Champions League season.
The star ensemble around Ovtcharov is no longer of any use to Wildcard either
The TTC Neu-Ulm is currently competing in the most important European club competition with the former world number one Dimitrij Ovtcharov, the Swede Truls Möregardh and the Taiwanese Lin Yun-Ju, although they had already declared their withdrawal from the Bundesliga in February after a dispute with the TTBL league association and with the German champions Borussia Düsseldorf. The German cup winners also no longer registered a new team for the 2nd Bundesliga or the regional league.
Due to its sporting successes and the attractive team, the TTC Neu-Ulm has received a Champions League wildcard from the European association several times in the past. The ETTU did not object to the club’s withdrawal from the Bundesliga. According to the statutes, every German European Cup participant must also be registered by the DTTB. And so far there has been no passage in its rules of play that regulates a case like that of the Ovtcharov team.
A new beginning in the Bundesliga?
In concrete terms, this means for the Neu-Ulm team: If they want to compete internationally, they have to register a team nationally again for the new 2024/25 season. It is unclear whether the DTTB will open the door to the Bundesliga or whether the Bavarian Swabians will have to make their national restart in a lower league.
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Source: BR24Sport November 20, 2023 – 3:54 p.m
