IOC President Jacques Rogge opened an almost eight hours session of the ITTF Executive Committee meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland on Friday and expressed his satisfaction of table tennis in the Olympics.
According to the news letter released by the table tennis' world governing body early Saturday, the EC meeting at the IOC headquarter made decisions about its own TV channel, the racket control system, the next World Championships and about the eligibility of players from Hong Kong.
At the 2009 World Table Tennis Championships in Yokohama, Japan, the TV viewership has doubled compared to the same event in 2007, said the report.
In China more than 227 million different people have watched at least one minute of table tennis from Japan although the competitions were also broadcasted online on itTV, it added.
The EC decided that all ITTF events will now be on the ITTF's own itTV channel, as President Adham Sharara explained that more than 800,000 unique viewers followed the matches from Yokohama on itTV.
Starting on 1st September the racket testing will be stricter. The tolerance for VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) will be lowered to 4ppm (parts per million).
President Sharara also announced news about the case between the manufacturer of the rubber named
Table Tennis Masters and ITTF. "The ITTF is very happy that this matter has been settled out of court," Sharara said.
The EC furthermore decided that players for Hong Kong of Chinese nationality are treated like players of an association within the United Kingdom.
If a player wants to change the association for ITTF events, the waiting period of three, five and seven years respectively (depending on the age of player) is still compulsory; however, no special passport of the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong is required as long as a Chinese player lives in Hong Kong.
Source:Xinhua
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