JTTA boss says upsetting affiliates was for growth

PRESIDENT of the Jamaica Table Tennis Association (JTTA), Andrew Lue, is adamant that decisions that have ruffled feathers during his two-year tenure were for the development of the sport.

Lue, in an interview with STAR Sports, admitted that he is locked in several battles with different individuals and affiliates within the table tennis fraternity seeking to uproot him from his reign.

According to Lue, among those decisions is that taken to suspend a council member whom he said the executive was upset with.

"The council lost confidence in him because of certain actions. It wasn't my decision, it was the decision of the council because that person was causing problems, and if that person wasn't suspended, everybody else would be gone, and only he and I would be there. So the council decided to suspend him for disciplinary reasons," Lue said.

Lue noted he is also villainised for Jamaica's senior players' non-participating in the regional tournament this year. He argued that the decision was taken to opt from the senior tournament, to ensure Jamaica's participation at the Youth Pan American Championships.

According to Lue, the youth tournament conflicted with the National Championships, which created problems for the financially challenged JTTA to afford both. He said to offset the financial burden, JTTA requested that senior players assist in acquiring sponsorship, which didn't materialise.

"The senior team just wasn't able to make it. It's not what we wanted, but it was a decision we had to make for the development of the sport.

"In fact, we proved that it was the right decision because the junior team went back to the same tournament they went to last year and came third again but won more trophies. Last year we got four bronze, this year, we won seven bronze, so we feel justified," Lue said.

Meanwhile, he stated that the decision to protect tables owned by the association has also placed him at odds with the fraternity.

Lue explained that his administration got 12 tables, including some that were damaged, on taking up office two years ago. He stated that the administration prevented affiliates from using the tables wantonly, causing a furore.

"We are saying to them, this is the only stock that we have to do our national squad training and our tournaments. We cannot really give them to everybody. If we give them to you, we have to understand that you have to pay to rent them, and if anything goes wrong with them, you will have to replace them," he said.