Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna, ranked 20 in the world, has approached the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Tribunal after World Table Tennis (WTT), created by ITTF, levied a fee of $5000.
This, after the player expressed his inability to participate in the World team championships in February and WTT Champions event in March, citing diarrhoea and club commitments respectively. Reportedly, WTT is of the view that Aruna is not giving it the importance it deserves.
He has refused to pay the fine and argued that he had informed WTT well in advance of his non-availability in the Worlds and World Champions Tour. The 36-year-old four-time Olympian said he is not averse to approaching the Court of Administration for Sport (CAS) if he doesn’t get justice from the ITTF Tribunal.
Speaking to The Hindu on a Zoom Call on Thursday, Aruna, who is representing U Mumbai TT in the Ultimate Table Tennis League, said: “I really believe WTT has framed bad rules. They make things so expensive for the players. Table tennis was never this expensive when ITTF was involved in organising tournaments.
“There used to be lots of players on the world tour. Now, everyone is losing money on the WTT tour. Nothing has changed. Everybody is complaining but nobody is confident to come out and talk about it. They fined me $5000 even after I told them well in advance that I have my club commitments. I get my salary from my club. Only when I get my salary, can I pay WTT. I have approached the ITTF Tribunal to resolve the issue. The case is pending. I am willing to go to CAS if I don’t get justice.”