LOL--Table tennis chief firm on limiting Chinese-born players
news.xinhuanet.com
www.chinaview.cn 2008-02-27 23:13:14 Print
By Sportswriter Zhang Han
GUANGZHOU, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- World table tennis chief has been stern on pushing the proposal of limiting the number of citizenship-switching players, which to be voted on Friday by the board of the sport's ruling body.
"I don't know exactly how many associations are in favor of the proposal and how many are against. It depends on how each association thinks about it," Adham Sharara, president of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), said here on Wednesday at a press conference.
"If they only think about their own benefits, maybe some of them will vote it down. But if they think what's the best for the sport or for the ITTF, then I believe they will be supportive," he added.
The table tennis boss, who has long been worried about the fact that Chinese-born paddlers play everywhere representing other countries or regions, has on several occasions voiced his support of the Swiss association's proposal.
If the proposal passes on Friday with a simple majority at the board of directors meeting, the ITTF will ban the 21-year-old and older players from changing allegiances in order to play World Cup and world championships.
According to the proposal, if someone aged 15 to 17 switches citizenship, he or she has to wait for three years before representing the adopted countries or regions, and it extends to five years for the 18-20 years old.
Chinese have dominated major table tennis events, with 17 Chinese women and 11 men among the top 20 world rankings.
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