After 6 years without an International Referee Conference due to COVID restrictions ITTF URC invited this year all International Referees to attend the Referee Conferences this year. 121 out of 132 referees worldwide attended the IR Conferences either in Beijing in November or in Senec in December.
The Conference in Senec has been supported and organized by Slovak Table Tennis Association. In the Conference the referees discussed different scenarios and agreed on common solutions. They also practiced public draws and implementation of events in a role play. Tina CROTTA from WTT presented the procedures and changes for the WTT events in 2024. Kevin CARPENTER informed about the ITTF Integrity Unit. A lively discussion started in the sessions with players and coaches. In Senec the Austrian coach Jarek KOLODZIEJCZYK discussed with referees the expectations of and cooperation between referees players and coaches. All referees also had to do an online rules exam.
Werner THURY: “Three days of exchange of experiences and discussions finished with the common agreement that it is necessary to continue this way of development to ensure a common approach and professionalism. As chairperson I was really happy to see that around 90% of all referees worldwide attended the Conference this year.”
Anton HAMRAN and the Slovak Table Tennis Association have organized the Conference in an excellent way. Jarek KOLODZIEJCZYK as ETTU chair of the Coaches Committee gave us an excellent insight into the expectations of coaches.
