The TTC Neu-Ulm and its star player Dimitrij Ovtcharov are allowed to play in the Champions League in the coming season, despite their withdrawal from the table tennis Bundesliga. This was decided by the Executive Committee of the German Table Tennis Association (DTTB) at a video conference.
The only criterion for the European association ETTU is the athletic performance of a club in the European Cup competitions of the past three years, said DTTB President Claudia Herweg. In table tennis, the Champions League participants are registered with the ETTU by their national associations. In the case of Neu-Ulm “Neither the current DTTB nor the ETTU regulations offer a basis for deciding otherwise”.
However, Herweg can understand criticism that the TTC Neu-Ulm wants to concentrate solely on the Champions League in the coming season and at the same time may only play with a B-team in the second, third or fourth division. that be “Certainly not in the spirit of team sports”said the DTTB President.
Neu-Ulm withdraws in protest
Herweg therefore announced a move at the ETTU and at the next Bundestag of the DTTB in November to change the currently valid regulations. Your goal is that Champions League participants have to play in the top division of a country in the future.
Before this season, the Neu-Ulmer signed the four world-class players Ovtcharov, Truls Moregardh (Sweden), Tomokazu Harimoto (Japan) and Lin Yun-ju (Taiwan). They won the German Cup competition and were only eliminated in the semi-finals of the Champions League. In the Bundesliga, other players have been used for the most part for months.
After Moregardh and Lin were also used in the Swedish and Japanese leagues in January, the table tennis Bundesliga banned the two for ten games each in the next season. In protest against this penalty, the TTC Neu-Ulm decided in February not to apply for a Bundesliga license anymore. He has to decide by March 15 whether he wants to register a team for the second or third division. The registration period for the regional or Oberliga ends on June 5th.