United Table Tennis Players Association

[ThePongCommenter]

You're right, individual players on their own have little to no leverage. Leverage requires acting together. Then they can stop individual tournaments or the entire tour from being played. Most players earn close to nothing from the tour, so they don't have much to lose.

currently has 26 members
Collaborator of the post includes Manika Batra, Dima, Bruna, Hugo, Felix.

then there is another post that has Groth, Kirill, Truls, Dang Qiu, Anton, Nina

and another, Gauzy, Darko, Mino, Pavade, Aruna

Someone like Felix or Alexis getting involved in plays like this, at this stage of their careers, would be far more damaging to their own careers and brands than it would be to the WTT. Everyone knows that. The rest of the players on the list that Tony posted isn't going to stop the show from going on. I see your point, but, at the current time, I don't see this group of players even acting together moving the needle much. Maybe if they start getting some top tier names who are willing to put their money where their mouths are.

 

[zeio]

United...

https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/fo...ll-play-for-another-4-years.35128/post-509719

How low Europe has fallen.

Dainton: "For WTT, Japan is the 2nd largest market after China."

WTT最高峰大会グランドスマッシュが日本でも見られる？デイントンCEO「将来的に開催できれば」
https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2025/02/20/kiji/20250219s00026000259000c.html

　そんなWTTシリーズが、今年も日本で見られる。8月7日～11日に「チャンピオンズ」が開催される予定だ。「WTTにとって日本は、中国に次ぐマーケットです。さらにオリンピックでメダリストになった早田ひな選手など、将来を担う素晴らしい選手もたくさんいます」と同CEO。その上で、今後の構想の一端も明かした。「将来的はグランドスマッシュも日本で開催したい、そうなったらいいなと思っています」。近い将来、日本でも世界最高峰の戦いが見られるかも知れない。

 

[SFF_lib]

currently has 26 members
Collaborator of the post includes Manika Batra, Dima, Bruna, Hugo, Felix.

then there is another post that has Groth, Kirill, Truls, Dang Qiu, Anton, Nina

and another, Gauzy, Darko, Mino, Pavade, Aruna

Source please

 

[Matt Hetherington]

What collective bargaining power do they really have?

If they are all on the same page and are significantly unhappy with things they can boycott events. Also WTT seems to seriously dislike players making any critiques publicly and on social media, if the players are meeting together and working together then it is much more compelling that one or two players acting on their own.

Imagine if a Champions event happened and all of the players in the union said well we aren't going to play unless you address our concerns, it would be very significant.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Source please

go check Instagram players account.
they collaborating in the post.

if you use social media, it is every where.

 

[ThePongCommenter]

If they are all on the same page and are significantly unhappy with things they can boycott events. Also WTT seems to seriously dislike players making any critiques publicly and on social media, if the players are meeting together and working together then it is much more compelling that one or two players acting on their own.

Imagine if a Champions event happened and all of the players in the union said well we aren't going to play unless you address our concerns, it would be very significant.

Agreed, but as of now, I think only 2 or maybe 3 of the players in this union (Lebruns and Hugo) are people who can really affect WTT's bottom line and not be replaced. Some may disagree with that and that's fine.

And likely they would be hurting their own careers and aspirations by threatening to boycott and actually boycotting long term especially if WTT calls their bluff. That's why I think you probably need more top tier players who really can affect the WTT bottom line (SYS, WCQ, and maybe a few others) before this will gain any traction.

The success of this will also depend on the type of demands they are making.

 

[d3nium]

The website looks a bit amateur to me. They don't even have an "About Us" section, or a favicon.

 

[RefereeNumber2]

The conversation in this thread seems to be framing this as between the players and the WTT tour, which may be correct. But could this also be about negotiating with the many regional leagues?

Players are stretched very thin between tour events and leagues. And as a mere consumer of pro table tennis, I have to say it is also an opaque environment to follow all of the different leagues going on in addition to the WTT tour and ITTF events because of how decentralized they all are, not to mention the language barriers. I could imagine a world in which the sport would benefit from some consolidation of different leagues + tour events so that there could be a smaller number of higher-quality events and higher-profile matches.

I'm not sure how this players' union idea would get us there, but to the extent they do have pull with smaller leagues, it might have an impact.

 

[Matt Hetherington]

Agreed, but as of now, I think only 2 or maybe 3 of the players in this union (Lebruns and Hugo) are people who can really affect WTT's bottom line and not be replaced. Some may disagree with that and that's fine.

And likely they would be hurting their own careers and aspirations by threatening to boycott and actually boycotting long term especially if WTT calls their bluff. That's why I think you probably need more top tier players who really can affect the WTT bottom line (SYS, WCQ, and maybe a few others) before this will gain any traction.

The success of this will also depend on the type of demands they are making.

I don't agree, if 10-15 players collectively decided not to play in major events, it would have a significant impact on the tournament and particularly in regional markets. Imagine if there was a Champions event in Germany for example, and all of the German players boycotted. This is purely hypothetical of course. An independent players union has significantly more sway than the current ITTF Athletes Commission, because it will control its own budget and will not have stronger external influences.

I would hope that the union can at least start having constructive conversations with WTT and that WTT will embrace them as a positive thing for the sport.

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

FWIW, I think a players union can effect change for the better. IIRC Quadri Aruna was vocal and stood up for himself and won his arbitration with WTT. Better than doing nothing and just hoping for the change they want.

 

[JackJohnson]

FWIW, I think a players union can effect change for the better. IIRC Quadri Aruna was vocal and stood up for himself and won his arbitration with WTT. Better than doing nothing and just hoping for the change they want.

At least players like Aruna and Gauzy can now talk through UTTPA instead of them personally as the players themselves could be fine for voicing an opinion.

 

[JackJohnson]

I don't agree, if 10-15 players collectively decided not to play in major events, it would have a significant impact on the tournament and particularly in regional markets. Imagine if there was a Champions event in Germany for example, and all of the German players boycotted. This is purely hypothetical of course. An independent players union has significantly more sway than the current ITTF Athletes Commission, because it will control its own budget and will not have stronger external influences.

I would hope that the union can at least start having constructive conversations with WTT and that WTT will embrace them as a positive thing for the sport.

The only issue I see with this is that WTT/ITTF may decide to never hold WTT/ITTF events in certain countries/areas if players from that country or association decide to boycott the events. I don’t think WTT/ITTF will do that since they make money from these events but who knows when push comes to shove.

 

[PoppaChubby]

Someone like Felix or Alexis getting involved in plays like this, at this stage of their careers, would be far more damaging to their own careers and brands than it would be to the WTT. Everyone knows that. The rest of the players on the list that Tony posted isn't going to stop the show from going on. I see your point, but, at the current time, I don't see this group of players even acting together moving the needle much. Maybe if they start getting some top tier names who are willing to put their money where their mouths are.

You say that cos' you're not french, it's a cultural thing: protesting, rallying, being involved in unions or at least non-profit organizations defending the poors interests is a typical french thing, I've been volunteering for the Restos du Coeur https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restaurants_du_Cœur , and recently been the official tenants reprentative for the public housing building where I live. I had to build a solid body of evidence that led to 2 months free-rent + the rehabilitation of the building, those rehabilitation works are now ongoing.

It's also the same in USA, for example if pro musicians want to apply to positions to get paid gigs they have to be registered to the AFM https://www.afm.org/

 

[ThePongCommenter]

You say that cos' you're not french, it's a cultural thing: protesting, rallying, being involved in unions or at least non-profit organizations defending the poors interests is a typical french thing, I've been volunteering for the Restos du Coeur https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restaurants_du_Cœur , and recently been the official tenants reprentative for the public housing building where I live. I had to build a solid body of evidence that led to 2 months free-rent + the rehabilitation of the building, those rehabilitation works are now ongoing.

It's also the same in USA, for example if pro musicians want to apply to positions to get paid gigs they have to be registered to the AFM https://www.afm.org/

Ok. Time will tell if Alexis and Felix involve themselves in any sort of serious protests or strikes.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Ok. Time will tell if Alexis and Felix involve themselves in any sort of serious protests or strikes.

but this is also depending on the fight.

Aruna complained because ITTF fined him and not Nigeria federation.
I believe Aruna has a point
But Aruna also have a problem with his federation
I think most of this whole situation is a national federation issue.

so say Aruna has problems with his national federation and fighting ITTF.
Do we expect all the players will now sit out?

Some federations are just terrible and they don't support players. Many of these problems might not be ITTF related. so will the players now come and fight the federations?

we going to have a lot of sit outs if that is the case

 

[Nakira]

Ok. Time will tell if Alexis and Felix involve themselves in any sort of serious protests or strikes.

I don't think it is necessary protests or strike. It may be a group negotiation, instead of individual negotiation.
Even in France, you usually don't protest if you're at the top of the pyramid.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

I don't think it is necessary protests or strike. It may be a group negotiation, instead of individual negotiation.
Even in France, you usually don't protest if you're at the top of the pyramid.

but negotiation without the threat of protest or strike, then what power is there to unionize?

 

[Nakira]

but negotiation without the threat of protest or strike, then what power is there to unionize?

In a group, you have a better view of what to expect, in money, or other advantages. In addition when you start a negotiation, the WTT or any pro club is aware that you are aware of it.

At the very end, everything is a question of threat and power... you can protest, but you can also offer/accept, or not, a job. Still, the show must go on, and both the players and the businesses need each other.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

The board of UTTP
Hugo
Batra
Dima
Bruna
Mino
Groth
Georg Silberschmidt