“This is an Olympic year and if this ruling doesn’t change, I’m sure I’ll take it to court.”
“I will never be a slave to the WTT and play for bad prize money.”
Recently, the news of Nigerian table tennis star, Aruna, blasting the ITTF and WTT stormed the hotspots and sparked widespread controversy, which started when Aruna was given 0 points for two tournaments in the world rankings for week 14 of 2024, one at the Busan Team World Table Tennis Championships in February, and the other at the WTT Incheon Championships in March.
The reason for this is that Aruna suffered from food poisoning during the World Series, failed to provide the required certificates while not competing properly, and forfeited the WTT Incheon Championships in order to play in the league. In response, Aruna was outraged and not only objected to the points penalty imposed by the IPL, but also revealed the aggravation he suffered while participating in international tournaments, which not only resulted in his prize money being owed to him, but also interfered with his ability to earn money from playing in the league.
If we delve into the current situation of Aruna, Africa and some foreign associations in the ping pong world, we may be able to understand more about how much sorrow and helplessness they have in the face of similar things.
Concerned about the sports world of friends know, Chinese table tennis is a national system, athletes as long as they can enter the provincial team and other systems, not only food and clothing is guaranteed, but also in the equipment, training and other aspects of access to a lot of convenience; as for the players shortlisted for the national team to participate in foreign wars there are also financial pockets, basically will not be the case of participation in the self-funded.
In addition, due to the strength of the Chinese table tennis team and the large audience of table tennis players in China, those athletes at the top of the pyramid not only get bonuses in major competitions, but also receive many commercial endorsements and make money by participating in many variety shows after their retirement from the game – in fact, this is not only the case in China! In fact, this is not only the case in China, but also in Japan and other countries that have a better table tennis foundation, as evidenced by the likes of Ai Fukuhara and Hayato Mizutani.
However, it is undeniable that the commercial value of table tennis itself is far less than that of soccer, tennis, etc., so most athletes are unable to get the above treatment, while many foreign associations are strapped for funds to play matches, which is even more difficult for Aruna.
As we all know, due to history and other reasons, the economic level of Africa is still relatively low, Aruna’s Nigeria is no exception. Compared to soccer and other projects, table tennis in the local audience is not small, but can form the commercial value is very small, previously it has been revealed that Aruna in the country was Nigeria’s security forces, one of the members of the security forces, it is not easy to support the family.
After his rise to fame in the Rio Olympic cycle, Aruna was gradually recognized by clubs in other countries, and his wages from league matches became an important source of income. On the contrary, international competitions, Aruna is not only difficult to like Chinese table tennis team players as stable good results, get the prize money, but also very limited funds, but also out of pocket to buy air tickets, hotel tickets, etc., which accounted for a large part of the expenditure.
But then again, only in international competitions to achieve good results, the athlete in the club’s value will be the higher, which is why Aruna did not fully committed to the commercial league of one of the reasons.
In fact, many ping pong players have chosen to play only in leagues in the later years of their careers, including Smash Waldner and others, but Aruna can’t make that choice right now, on the one hand, because his competitive level hasn’t declined to the point that he can’t compete internationally; on the other hand, because he’s from Africa himself, he lacks the security of being released from his contract at any time no matter which Asian or European country he goes to participate in the leagues.
On the other hand, many Asian and European athletes play in leagues that are close to home, and some play for clubs in their home countries, which is a far cry from Aruna’s conditions.
It is in this situation, Aruna certainly want to be more in the international competition to achieve good results, and the world ranking will have a significant impact on the international tournament draw grouping, at the same time not conducive to their own reputation, and so we have seen him and the FIVB outbreak of conflict.
As far as this incident is concerned, there are not too many controversial points in Aruna’s World Series being assigned 0 points, either because he himself did not provide the required proof, or because the Nigerian National Federation did not do its job properly, or because the FIBA did not do its job properly, which is essentially a procedural issue, and what really triggered the controversy, lies in the second thing.
In Aruna’s view, whether the athlete to participate in the WTT tournament, should depend on their personal will, if this affects the normal income, there is every reason to refuse, can not be punished through the means of points, not to mention the previous participation in the WTT tournament prize money has not been paid in place, which is really difficult to accept, so much so that he said the possibility of “court”! “He said that he would never be a slave to the WTT.
At present, this matter is still fermenting, and many fans are still waiting to see the attitude of Liu Guoliang, the vice president of the FIBT and the chairman of the board of directors of the WTT, so let’s wait and see what will happen!
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