Psychological violence?

Serious allegations: ÖTTV boss breaks his silence

Wolfgang Gotschke puts up a fight.

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

After a long period of silence, Table Tennis Association President Wolfgang Gotschke has spoken out about the accusations against him and ÖTTV Sports Director Stefan Fegerl. The 61-year-old did not deny that mistakes were made in communication. But: "There is no sportsman or sportswoman who could ever claim that I personally put them under pressure or used psychological violence," said Gotschke. He intends to run in the board election on March 30.

The background: Since the previous year, there have been massive accusations against Gotschke and Fegerl from active members, with talk of psychological violence and neglect. The association launched an investigation, the report of which is said to have substantiated the misconduct and spoke of a "permanently broken relationship" between active players and the association's leadership. However, the President's Conference, as the ÖTTV supervisory body, was unable to take any personnel steps because there was no consensus within the committee.

Stefan Fegerl (left) and Wolfgang Gotschke (right)

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

"Of course mistakes have been made. Of course you have to work on correcting the mistakes and you have to accept criticism," explained Gotschke. "But I must vehemently reject the accusations on this scale." He had not issued ultimatums or threatened anyone and he did not believe that Fegerl had done so either, said the Viennese. "Two players say that they have existential fears because they believe they will be thrown out of the army if Stefan says something bad about them. But the army is all about performance. If those in charge of the armed forces would pay attention to the association's interventions, word would get around," said Gotschke.

Public abuse counterproductive
Internal association opportunities to seek help - there is a person of trust, a sports committee - had not been taken up. Gotschke confirmed that the negative headlines had already led to financial damage - athletes' spokesperson Daniel Habesohn had reported that sponsors had pulled out. win2day had parted ways the previous year and long-standing partner Ströck had not extended the contract. "This public snub is counterproductive for the association."

The ÖTTV boss is therefore hoping for a reconciliation. "We as the board have reached out. We say, let's do everything we can to make it work again. But just saying Gotschke/Fegerl belong away is not an option in my view. It can't get so personal that you say: 'No matter what you do, no matter how good it is, you have to go!" Player representative Habesohn had called for exactly that with reference to the accusations and athletes' statements.

In an open letter, the ÖTTV leadership proposed eight measures to improve the relationship with the athletes. With Jaroslaw "Jarek" Kolodziejczyk as team manager of the national team, there is another contact person for the athletes. An additional national coach, Dmitrij Levenko, has been hired at the national training center in Stockerau. In addition, physiotherapeutic support is to be strengthened and planning reliability for training and tournaments increased. The list also includes an athlete agreement, which should make the national squad athletes more independent.

"I'm not an armchair sticker"
 Gotschke has never thought about resigning because: "That would be an admission of guilt. I'm not indifferent to the whole situation and I'm absolutely unhappy about it." Gotschke, who was elected ÖTTV President in 2021, will "in all likelihood" run again in the board election at the early general assembly on March 30. "I'm happy to continue, but not at any price." He is tired of being publicly insulted.

"I'm not an armchair stickler. If the association says, 'Dear Gotschke, it was all well and good what you did, but we'd rather have him as president', then so be it." He thinks it's basically a good thing that an election is now being held, as this is a democratic process. "And from what I hear, Daniel Habesohn is going to run anyway, so everyone can decide."