Meeting in Copenhagen 22^nd – 24^th October 1999

Attending the meeting were: Christian Lilleross, Øivind Eriksen, Silas Chaing, Vincent Boury, Jiri Danek, Massimo Bernadoni, Marianne Bærtelsen, Aksel Beckmann and Margit Beckmann. Gaël Marziou and Aart Kruimer could not attend the meeting but had sent their comments before.

Aksel was elected as the chairman of the meeting.

ITTC showed their respect to Shelby Lookabaugh. She did a great job as our administrative assistant. Unfortunate she passed away in May 1999.

Approval of the minutes of the ITTC-meetings in Paris October 1998 and e-mail meeting June 1999.

Christian had a comment. The minutes did not mention the result of the decision about the Bronze Medal match this was a mistake.

The decision was:

The minutes of the February meeting in Paris 1998 is not on the web-site – Gaël will be informed.

The minutes from Paris October 1998 and the minutes from the e-mail meeting on the 13^th June 1999 were adobed with the comments mentioned above.

Role Call.

Vincent was elected in Paris and can vote. The only one who cannot vote is Aksel and Margit who are co-opted.

TD-Development Officer.

The executives discussed the proposal from Marianne regarding the TD-education. The committee has to give their comments to Marianne before December 1^st 1999.

Marianne has to give the first draft of an education to the executives on January 15^th 2000 and the plan is that the final plan for education of TD’s is to be delivered to the executives the 1^st March 2000 for approval.

The plan must include all the material to be used during the education as well as a proposal for the dates for the first TD-seminars.

The education of the TDs is very important. The plan is that there will be a seminar, a written exam and an interview. When the TD-candidate has passed the test, the new TD has to follow an educated TD as a trainee.

Chairman

Christian Lilleross is Director of the Sport of IPC, and had learned from his new job that ITTC has one thing that is very important for us – that is our Ranking list. Our focus for the last 3 years has been to secure that the player can gain ranking points.

This has lead to a major increase in the number of tournaments throughout the world. No matter what we do in our job in the ITTC it might affect the World Ranking list. Therefore it is very important to think carefully before changing anything in the World Ranking system.

Christian has also learned the ITTC has a Selection system better than any other sport – this is because the countries know in good time before the tournament which athletes who can attend the tournaments.

Christian has as the chairman of the ITTC made an annual report. This is mailed out to all National Paralympic Organisations in the middle of October 1999. In this Christian has mentioned statistics of ITTC from January 1997 until October 1999, this shows that ITTC has improved a lot during these years.

From the annual report 1999:

The largest growth statistic can be found in using our ranking system.

On the 1999 October ranking we have 1248 athletes that has participated in an International IPC sanctioned tournament in the last three years. We have 76 countries that widely practises Table Tennis in the world. The FESPIC region now has 20 countries that have participated in an International sanctioned tournament and 302 athletes on the list. It is mainly due to our regional representative from the FESPIC region Silas Chiang´s excellent efforts to develop Table Tennis in that region.

	Coun-tries	Athletes	Female	Events sanctioned	AFRICA	FESPIC	SEVERE DISABLED
1997-01-01	50	591	19.2%	10	21 athletes	69 athletes	15.6 % overall
1999-10-01	76	1248	23.2%	28	88 athletes	302 athletes	17.9 % overall

In our sport we have at least one sanctioned tournament in all regions of the world, we are not only focused on Europe.

The World Ranking System developed by Dr. Wu gives us many possibilities.

The communication from ITTC has been insufficient, but we are improving. All NPC’s have now received the newsletter both in July 1999 and October 1999. We still have a lot to do. But communication is not only one way – we need communication from the countries to ITTC.

The IPC headquarter has developed a lot and since that only NPC’s can apply for sanction the best way to secure that is to make the IPC-Headquarter the main entrance to ITTC. This means that from March 2000 every application needs to go to IPC-Head Quarter for registration with a copy to ITTC secretary Margit Beckmann.

Christian raised the subject on whether ITTC should have a paid staff in the Head Quarter.

There is a possibility that ITTC can get a 50 % employee for the cost of US$ 7,500.- per year.

This should be possible from March 2000.

One of the main reasons why the executives found that it could be a good solution to have a trainee employed at the IPC-headquarter was that Christian Lillieroos works there as Director of Sport. The Executives finds that this will make sure that there will be sufficient knowledge of table tennis as back-up for the trainee.

The committee discussed whether we should have a 25 % employee or a 50 % employee.

The Executives made a principal decision to have a 50 % employee and told Christian Lillieroos to investigate further and deliver material about the conditions and possibilities to the ITTC.

Treasurer and Fespic Representative Silas Chiang.

Silas reported from the Fespic Region.

The countries have decided to try to develop a number of tournaments in the region.

The next Fespic Games will be held in Osaka in 2001.

Taiwan wants to officially bid for the 2002 World Championships.

Then Silas reported about the economy of ITTC.

ITTC has a healthy economy based on founding from IPC, the more countries who widely practices table tennis the more money we will get from IPC

Furthermore ITTC gets a part of the IPC-capitation tax for World Championships and Regional Championships.

Budget. The committee discussed the budget for 2000, which must be delivered to IPC within the next weeks.

The committee decided to apply for raised founding for the development of the TD-education, the Referee-education, the development of a classification Video and travel expenses and accommodation for the executives for the annual meeting in Sydney.

The travel expenses and accommodation will be covered for persons who are not already covered by being there in another position.

These persons are The Secretary, the web-master/ Ranking Officer and 50 % of the expenses for the paid staff.

Vicechairman

Øivind reported from the Stoke Mandeville Games in Christchurch New Zealand where he had some useful conversation with their Technical Officer.

We need to revise the contract between ISMWSF and ITTC. One idea could be that ISMWSF could be responsible for developing table tennis tournaments for younger players.

Øivind reported from the meetings with the nations that ITTC held both at the European Championships and at the Fespic Championships.

Øivind stated that it is mandatory that whenever ITTC is present at tournaments an informal meeting with the nations present must be held.

Tournament Officer.

Jiri Danek reported about his ideas to develop the tournaments sanctioned by ITTC.

Since 1996 the priority has been like this.

1. Quantity.
2. Quality.
3. Accessibiliy
4. Information.

This was the right priority at that time but now we get input from players / team captains and organisers that leads us into a new priority where quality is the highest priority.

We need to focus on what we can do to improve the quality of the tournaments.

Jiri had a number of proposals, which would lead to changes of the regulations of ITTC. Aksel postponed these proposals for the Rules and Regulations part of the agenda.

Christian mentioned that the only organisation that could apply for a tournament to be sanctioned by ITTC is the National Paralympic Committee of a country.

Jiri made a statement that we have to educate a lot of NPC’s throughout the World, as a lot of them do not know anything about table tennis. This is a mammoth task for IPC.

Until IPC succeed with this we will discover a decrease in the number of tournaments or we will have to do a lot communication to make them get their NPC to apply.

Jiri wanted to discuss a structure for application to make sure that ITTC-sanctioned tournaments are spread more evenly over the year in order to make it more possible for countries to participate in the different tournaments.

The committee accepted the idea and formed a calendar group, which shall establish a proposal for a calendar for 2001.

The members of the Calendar sub-committee are: Jiri (Chairman), Margit (Secretary), Silas, Sergio Lujan, Alison Bursell and Vincent. The sub-committee must come with a proposal to the executives before April 1^st 2000. (new deadline as the first one was 15^th of December 1999.)

Selection Officer

Massimo reported on the selection process for the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney.

The executives discussed the timeline and the different activities that are on the time line.

The selection for Sydney is the most important for the players throughout the World; it has to be 100% correct and understandable.

The ITTC formed a sub-committee to make the selection timeline and the activities.

The sub-committee has to make their proposal for the timeline and the activities before December 10^th 1999.

It was decided to write an official letter to Australia to let them apply for their wild cards now in order to make the rest of the selection easier.

The process has to be communicated to the countries and players on the web-site.

Athletes representative.

Vincent asked everyone in the committee to make sure that as many players as possible know him and that he gets the name, address and e-mail of as many players as possible.

Vincent suggested that we on the web-site had a "players corner" where players could discuss different ideas to develop the sport and the tournaments more.

Vincent had received input from several players who wanted that ITTC made a maximum limit on entry fee per day for the different sanctioning factors.

Vincent had input from several players who had told him that they liked the idea to play the Open as the first event.

Most of players don’t want to hear about doubles in competition. That event should become only optional for every tournament. The committee recognised this but as the Open doubles was installed by the General Assembly during Atlanta Paralympics. The main feeling was that even though it was within the power of ITTC to take it away the most reasonable thing to do was to make a proposal for the General Assembly in Sydney.

About WO rules, what is expected compared to other sports: if the match is not played for any reasons (illness, injures, players not come at the event, etc.) no ranking points are given. If the match had started –even only 1 point played- then points are given.

Open event should be a direct KO system, only. No previous round-robins

Vincent suggested that ITTC establishes a classification card with a player number to make sure those players who plays in ITTC-sanctioned tournaments are known by ITTC.
If players want to play and do not have this card the organiser must charge an extra fee for this player.

Globally, the main expectation for the future is a deep improvement of the QUALITY in tournaments. This is mainly a problem on huge competition.

There should be a special hand-book, or a section in the hand-book about what are the expected "good conditions". Criteria mainly focused on different disabilities (accessibility, toilets, accomodations, transport, schedule, etc.)

Vincent wish to prepare a ‘global survey’ to be presented during the first half of year 2000. The goal will be to catch much more precise inputs directly from players about what are their expectations for the future. Most of subjects will be included: tournaments, selection, ranking, classifications, etc.

Vincent wish that the communication and information FROM ITTC get improved. Mainly using the web site channel, but also using regular channels (mail, fax) so that people with low access to e-mail or web are still informed.

The communication TO ITTC could also be improved, if some of the questions/requests/comments/critics are published when proper and interesting informations are sent from organisers, players, or team managers

There is a demand for some international training camps. Could ITTC be involved in such training camps to support the development of the table tennis activity? Such an help could be financial, but also only about organising the camps (when, which countries, where, which players, which formula, etc.).

Vincent had several new ideas to develop the sport, which he wanted to put on a player’s corner for discussion.

Vincent had some proposals for Rules changes. Aksel postponed these to this item of the agenda.

The committee accepted that there should be a player’s corner on the web-site where all the ideas could be discussed.

Rules and Regulations Officer

Aksel reported about the umpire’s seminars.

Since this was made mandatory at the meeting in Paris 1998 more than 250 umpires have tried to pass the test to become ITTC-certified.

The best estimate is that when 1999 comes to an end the number of ITTC-certified umpires in the world will be approximately 180. This means that all umpires who will attend the Paralympic Games in Sydney will be ITTC-certified.

Christian suggested that a database of the umpires should be made available on the web-site in order to give tournament organisers a possibility to invite ITTC-certified umpires for their tournaments. Aksel accepted the task to build a database.

Silas suggested that umpires who did not have English as their native language could get some extra time for the test. He also suggested that the test should be followed by an interview in order to give persons who do not speak fluent English a chance to explain them self. Aksel would consider both proposals.

Marianne suggested that the certified umpires should have regular updates of ITTC-rules and Regulations.

Aksel accepted this idea.

The next big task for Aksel is to establish a Referee education. This education has been requested from several team-captains and players who want ITTC to be more in charge of the major tournaments. A lot of the input received showed that there is a common wish that ITTC appoints all the Referees for the major tournaments (factor 50 and above).

The committee wants Aksel to further develop the Referee area.

Secretary.

The Secretary has received some applications:

France a kind of Top 12, Taiwan is interested in bid of 2002 – worlds, Croatia European Championship 2003, Croatia a factor 30 – in April 2000 and Bibionie 12 – 14 May 2000 (Portogruaro). The bid from Taiwan about the World Championships in 2002 Silas has to go back and report to Taiwan that they have to apply directly to IPC-Headquarters, because they have to send money together with the application to the IPC headquarter.

The committee discussed the matters about Portogruaro and came to the conclusion that they could not give Portogruaro any Factor. There had been difficulties with the tournaments held in 1998 and 1999. Asha Fox Veneto Orientale has to write to all countries that they do not get any ranking factor. This is a pity because the tournament could have been very interesting for the players.

ITTC also decided that the organisers could not send out the entry-forms before the tournament and the entry form has been approved by ITTC. ITTC will make a statement about this on the website.

Newsletter

IPC have a newsletter, where ITTC have to send articles to. ITTC will also make a "Newsletter" but to do this we also need information and articles from the countries, player, organisers or coaches. Our "Newsletter" needs to be freshened up - more fancy with pictures and so on.

Margit Beckmann made a proposal with motion to buy a laptop and fax for the secretary and a seperate number for the fax.

Fax/copy: about 300 – 400 $

Laptop: about 2.000 – 2.500 $

The committee approved the proposal.

Approval of new chairman

Christian resigns as Chairman and regional representative by the 1^st of November 1999.

ITTC have the option to co-opt a person. The Co-opted members have no voting.

A motion to appoint Oivind Eriksen as chairman from 1^st November 1999 until Sydney 2000.

Committee appoved Oivind Eriksen as chairman until Sydney 2000.

About the Pan-American representative: The committee can appoint a person.

The committee appointed Sergio Lujan from Mexico

Oivind Eriksen thanked for the election.

Oivind also thanked Christian, who had done a great job. At the General assembly, Christian will be our guest. The committee wishes Christian good luck in the future.

New Structure and Preparation for Sydney

ITTC discussed different possibilities for a new structure of ITTC.

In principle the discussion was between two different structures.

1. A structure based on elected members who after election are assigned to different areas. The structure includes regional representatives for all regions.
   The structure also includes some co-opted positions i.e. secretary, ranking officer, rules and regulations officer and web-master.
   
2. A structure based on an analysis of the different working areas in the committee and then election of the number of positions to cover all these areas. In this structure a candidate is elected to a specific working area within the committee.

No conclusion was reached at the meeting but some principles were decided these would not be affected no matter what structure is chosen.

• The period for election should be 2 different 4 years period.
• The chairperson and the first half of the committee could be chosen at the General Assembly at the Paralympic Games.
• The other half can be chosen at the meeting with the Nations at the World Championships.

Preparation for Sydney – General Assembly.

The committee formed a sub-committee to come with the first draft 1^st of February 2000.

The sub-committee: Oivind, Silas, Aksel and Margit (secretary).

TOP 12 – Rules and regulations

Based on different input regarding TOP-12 tournaments the committee formed a sub-committee to come with the first draft of new regulations for these types of tournaments, the sub-committee has to deliver their first draft in February 2000. The executives has to give input to the sub-committee not later than 15^th January 2000.

The sub-committee: Oivind, Jiri, Marianne, Aksel

Rule changes

There were several different topics to be discussed and decided.

Motion to rename ITTC to IPTTC. (International Paralympic Table Tennis Committee). The reason to do that is that it will be easier to promote Paralympic sports if they have the same structure in their names.

Motion carried in principle, but it has to be finally decided at the General Assembly in Sydney.

Motion to change INAS-FID to INAS-FMH. The reason is that INAS-FID in their general Assembly changed their name.

Motion carried.

Motion to change the wheelchair service rule: If the receiver strikes the ball the service shall be considered good and no let shall be called. Aksel explained that this will be very difficult to implement. It will lead to that the umpire will have to wait to see what happens before he either calls a let or does not. This will take the authority away from the umpire and will lead to a lot of discussions between the players. He could not recommend the motion.

The motion was not carried.

Motion to put in the ITTC handbook that the Secretary is co-opted by the chairman, and in case the secretary is a professional staff the person is co-opted by the entire committee.

The motion was postponed to be discussed in Sydney at the General Assembly.

Motion: To fulfil IPC-regulations all application most go to IPC-Head Quarter and will have to pay a sanction fee of US$ 250,- to IPC. The reason for this change is in fact that ITTC as well as other sports has not fulfilled this regulation for years, but with a professional staff at the IPC head quarter the committee finds it reasonable to follow the regulations.
ITTC still needs to know whether ITTC will get a part of the sanction fee back to the table tennis budget to work for table tennis as well as we need to know what other benefits ITTC will get for the sanction fee.

Christian Lillieroos needs to investigate that and reply to ITTC.

Motion carried in principle from March 1^st 2000.

Motion to add one more sanction category. World TOP-12 to be held maximum once a year, the sanctioning fold for this is 40. The reason why ITTC wants this is to further develop the tournament system and to give an opportunity to organisers to present the best players in the world.

Motion carried. Valid from July 1^st 2000. The TOP-12 sub-committee has to develop application procedure and regulations for this sanctioning category.

The following changes were motioned and carried to the section describing factor 100 (Paralympic Games) in the ITTC-regulations

1. 2 TD-inspections are to be held. One at least 24 months before the Paralympic Games and one 12 months before. The exact dates are settled in co-operation with the Paralympic Organising Committee. Travel expenses and accommodation has to be covered by the Paralympic Organising committee. Pocket money of an equivalent of US$ 15 per day.
   
2. The Paralympic Organising committee has to pay international travel-expenses and accommodation for both the TD and the assistant TD from 5 days before the opening of the Paralympic Games to the day after the closing of the games. Pocket money of an equivalent of US$ 15 per day.
   
3. Classifiers. 3 international classifiers. International travel expenses and accommodation from 2 days before the opening to the day after the closing ceremony. Pocket money of an equivalent of US$ 15 per day.
   
4. Referees. One Referee and 3 deputy referees. The Rules and Regulations Officer of ITTC appoints the Referee and the deputy Referees, this is done in co-operation with the Paralympic Organising Committee. The host country is entitled as a minimum to one of the positions as deputy Referee. If the host country has a qualified Referee this position will be given to the qualified Referee.
   Both the Referee and the deputy Referees must be ITTF-international Referees. Pocket money of an equivalent of US$ 15 per day.
   
5. Umpires. Number of umpires teams of 2 umpires equal to the number of tables times 1.5 + 4. I.e. Number of tables = 12 è 22 umpires teams. è 44 umpires.
   The Paralympic organising committee has to pay international travel expenses for at least 75% of the umpires invited from foreign associations. Pocket money of an equivalent of US$ 15 per day.
   
6. ITTC-executives. The Paralympic Organising Committee has to provide room and board for all ITTC-executives + 1 staff.
   

1. Only one tournament named World Table Tennis Championships can be sanctioned by ITTC in any sanction level.
   
2. The application for the World Championships has to go to the IPC-Headquarter - together with the IPC sanction fee - minimum 24 months before the championships.
   
3. 2 TD-inspections with 2 persons. 1 from IPC and 1 from ITTC. First inspection 18 months before the tournament. Second inspection 6 months before the tournament. Travel expenses for the inspections has to be paid by the organiser. Pocket money of an equivalent of US$ 15 per day.
   
4. Classifiers. 4 international classifiers. International travel expenses and accommodation from 2 days before the opening to the day after the closing ceremony. Pocket money of an equivalent of US$ 15 per day
   
5. Referees. One Referee and 3 deputy referees. The Rules and Regulations Officer of ITTC appoints the Referee and the deputy Referees, this is done in co-operation with the Organising Committee. The host country is entitled as a minimum to one of the positions as deputy Referee. If the host country has a qualified Referee this position will be given to the qualified Referee.
   Both the Referee and the deputy Referees must be ITTF-international Referees. Pocket money of an equivalent of US$ 15 per day.
   
6. Umpires. Number of umpires teams of 2 umpires equal to the number of tables times 1.5 + 4. I.e. Number of tables = 12 è 22 umpires teams. è 44 umpires. Pocket money of an equivalent of US$ 15 per day.
   
7. ITTC-executives. The Organising Committee has to provide room and board for all ITTC-executives + 1 staff during the World Championships.
   

1. The application for the Regional Championships has to go to the IPC-Headquarter -together with the IPC sanction fee - minimum 18 months before the championships.
   
2. Classifiers: Add: Pocket money of an equivalent of US$ 15 per day
   
3. Referees. One Referee and 2 deputy referees. The Rules and Regulations Officer of ITTC appoints the Referee and the deputy Referees, this is done in co-operation with the Organising Committee.. The host country is entitled as a minimum to one of the positions as deputy Referee. If the host country has a qualified Referee this position will be given to the qualified Referee.
   Both the Referee and the deputy Referees must be ITTF-international Referees. Pocket money of an equivalent of US$ 15 per day.
   
4. Umpires. Number of umpires teams of 2 umpires equal to the number of tables times 1.5 + 4. I.e. Number of tables = 12 è 22 umpires teams. è 44 umpires. Pocket money of an equivalent of US$ 15 per day.
   
5. The Organising Committee has to provide room and board for 2 ITTC-executives and 1 staff during the regional championships.
   

1. The application for factor 30 championships has to go to the IPC-Headquarter, with a copy to the ITTC secretary minimum 12 months before the championships. Sanction fee. US$ 250,- has to be paid together with the application.
   
2. A TD-inspection has to be done at least 8 months before the tournament. No entry form can be send out before it has been approved by the TD. Pocket money of an equivalent of US$ 15 per day.
   
3. No other tournament 30 point tournament will be sanctioned in the same period.
   
4. No 20 point tournament or 10 point tournament will be sanctioned in that region in the same period.
   
5. Classifiers: Add: Pocket money of an equivalent of US$ 15 per day
   
6. Umpires. Number of umpires equal to the number of tables times 2 + 4. I.e. Number of tables = 12 è 28 umpires. Pocket money of an equivalent of US$ 15 per day.
   
7. Capitation tax per participant US$ 20 to be paid at the end of the tournament to the ITTC-representative.
   
8. The Organising Committee has to provide room and board for 1 ITTC-executive and 1 staff during the International championships.

1. The application for factor 20 championships has to go to the IPC- Headquarter with a copy to the ITTC secretary minimum 8 months before the championships. Sanction fee. US$ 250,- has to be paid together with the application.
   
2. A TD will be appointed and will be present during the tournament. No entry form can be send out before it has been approved by the TD.
   Organisers will have to pay travel expenses and accommodation for the TD from the day before the championships to the day after the championships. Pocket money of an equivalent of US$ 15 per day.
   
3. No other tournament will be sanctioned in the region in the same period.
   
4. Classifier: Add: One classifier will be appointed and be present during the tournament. Organisers will have to pay travel expenses, accommodation and pocket money of an equivalent of US$ 15 per day.
   
5. The maximum size of a round robin is 6 players.
   
6. The maximum advancement from a round robin is 2 players.
   
7. The maximum matches for placement is one match for 3^rd place.
   
8. The maximum number of teams per country in one event is 2.
   
9. The maximum number of players per country in one class is 6.
   
10. It is allowed to let players from different countries form teams in the team event.
    
11. Persons of different gender cannot form teams in the team event.
    

Capitation tax per participant US$ 20 to be paid at the end of the tournament to the ITTC-representative.

The following changes were motioned and carried to the section describing factor 10 (International championships with at least 8 countries invited) in the ITTC-regulations

1. The application for factor 10 championships has to go to the IPC-Headquarter with a copy to the ITTC secretary minimum 3 months before the championships. Sanction fee. US$ 250,- has to be paid together with the application.
   
2. A TD or ITTC-representative will be appointed. No entry form can be send out before it has been approved by the TD or the ITTC-representative.
   ITTC has the right to decide that the TD has to be present during the tournament.
   If this decision is made the organisers will have to pay travel expenses and accommodation for the TD from the day before the championships to the day after the championships.
   
3. No other tournament will be sanctioned in the region in the same period.
   
4. The maximum size of a round robin is 6 players.
   
5. The maximum advancement from a round robin is 2 players.
   
6. The maximum matches for placement is one match for 3^rd place.
   
7. The maximum number of teams per country in one event is 2.
   
8. The maximum number of players per country in one class is 6.
   
9. It is allowed to let players from different countries form teams in the team event.
   
10. Persons of different gender cannot form teams in the team event.
    

Capitation tax per participant US$ 10 to be paid at the end of the tournament to the ITTC-representative.

Handbook

Aksel and Margit showed a proposal for the new structure of the ITTC handbook.

Marianne and Silas will make some investigations on the History section and give feedback to Margit.

The committee liked the idea to develop the handbook but due to lack of time the idea will have to be developed more on an e-mail chat-meeting in the future.

Meeting adjourned 12.30 on October 24^th 1999.

Margit Beckmann, Aksel Beckmann,

Secretary ITTC Meeting Chairman