3.5.3 Fight The Glue Ban: ITTF vs TRUE
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This article is from the Table Tennis (Ping Pong) FAQ, by ttennis@bu.edu with numerous contributions by others.
3.5.3 Fight The Glue Ban: ITTF vs TRUE
THE OSAKA VICE INCIDENT AND THE GLUE BAN
THE ITTF VERSION AND THE TRUTH
THE ITTF VERSION
On December 4 the police raided a table tennis shop in
Osaka, Japan, and confiscated their stock of adhesives; the
resulting large headlines in the press were not flattering to
the sport.
Good timing! The Executive Board had to formulate a
recommendation, with no time for further inquiry or considered
deliberation. Yet with publicity like that the ITTF could not
be seen to take no action. The manufacturers had done nothing
to remove the problem, so the ITTF had to. Failure to act could
result in very costly legal liability.
The ITTF E.C. had to take immediate action after the
incident in Japan -- otherwise the amount of negative publicity
would have been extremely damaging to the sport, and the ITTF
could even have been subject to litigation.
The ITTF's action last December was indeed a political
response to the police raid in Osaka, albeit a rather pragmatic
one. For the fact is that headlines are headlines, and a
struggling sport like ours cannot afford bad ones.
THE TRUTH
The police raid in Osaka was only reported in local
newspapers. There was no report of it in newspapers in Tokyo.
It was too small an incident to be reported nationwide. I would
be very much surprised if it was reported outside Japan. It
was too small even to be handled nationwide.
The start of the police raid was a phone call from parents
of a junior table tennis player. She went to a table tennis
shop in Osaka and asked for that glue (a particular Japanese
brand containing the solvent toluene). An employee explained
to her that if she was to used for glue sniffing, she should
do it secretly. This was found out by her parents, who called
the police, and there was a raid. The police confiscated the
glue from the store. The thing was that the employee sold it
knowing it would be used for a purpose other than table tennis.
THE MANUFACTURERS AND THE GLUE BAN
THE ITTF VERSION AND THE TRUTH
THE ITTF VERSION
President Ogimura met in December with more than ten
manufacturers and reported on the problems associated with the
ban on certain types of glue. The ITTF does expect all
manufacturers to adapt themselves to the new situation.
a. Announcement of harmless rubber adhesive for the
time being during the transition period.
b. Announcement of systems which will not require rubber
adhesive at all when players put rubber on their rackets.
For example:
1. Rubber sheet which is coated with pressure
sensitive adhesive, and coated by cover paper.
2. A film which is coated by pressure sensitive
adhesive on both sides with cover papers for the use of those
rubbers without adhesive prefixed.
Too much spin on the ball encourages short rallies.
Even without speed glues, 10,000 rotations per minute have been
reported. Mistakes by misjudging spin cannot be understood,
appreciated or cheered by spectators inside the arena and on
TV. Out of this meeting the Japanese manufacturers agreed to
cooperate with the ITTF.
THE TRUTH
The Manufacturers Panel has to correct the following
remark given at Mr. Ogimura's Press Conference on May 14th,
1993 "No manufacturers were against the decision."
The Manufacturers Panel told the ITTF in the Manufacturers
Meeting:
1. We fully agree with ban of toxic glues as done by
the end of last year and fully assist the efforts of ITTF to
find a way to take out all harmful agents.
2. We feel that the way the glue problem has been handled
in this Championship (Gothenburg) is good, at least up to a
future solution to be acceptable for all (ITTF, Players,
Manufacturers).
3. We think that the question of ban glueing is no longer
only a problem of health, but of the view of developing our
sport (Mr. Ogimura likes to reduce speed and spin, which we
do not think is necessary).
Besides the discussion about glueing we have demanded
several times during this meeting (to Mr. Ogimura and the
Equipment Committee) not to change any rule concerning material
without doing serious tests together with players and
manufacturers during a 2-years-period in advance.
Gothenburg, May 19th, 1993
On behalf of the Manufacturers Panel
Butterfly Donic
Joola Nittaku
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