Acts of discrimination, arbitrary expulsions and non-transparent charges. These are some of the accusations against the board of directors of the Chilean Table Tennis Federation, and that today it maintains them in a judicial process against them.
An appeal for protection against the board of directors of the Chilean Federation of Table Tennis (Fechiteme) presented the lawyer Javier Gómez, in which he denounced possible acts of discrimination within the organization.
This is a constitutional action in which the arbitrary exclusion of historical associations from Fechiteme is accused for expressing their opposition to the current board of directors, chaired since 2012 by Reimberg Fuentes.
According to the presentation – entered before the Court of Appeals of Santiago – through “a discriminatory, repeated, excessive and anomalous procedure of mistreatment and arbitrariness”, around 30% of the associates were left out of the federation.
In this regard, the appellant lawyer assures that it is not possible that certain leaders and technicians are also excluded, as a result of the fact that they have simply expressed a dissenting opinion with the board.
Likewise, the letter adds, important sports leaders have been sanctioned, among them the former president of the instance, Osvaldo Arce Caro, who was sanctioned and exiled “in perpetuity.”
“As if that weren’t enough, prominent players have also suffered the onslaught of discrimination through unfair sanctions. Former national team member Carlos Hellesmans stands out, who without any notification or sanctioning process was punished for his criticism of the directive ”, he adds.
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The list, according to Gómez, is also thickened by Katherine Low. Regarding her, she assures that “the accumulation of discriminatory acts and harassment, ended the sports career of whoever became Ibero-American Table Tennis Champion at 23”.
“A crime against the sports talent and work of decades of the athlete and her parents, who even left their hometown Punta Arenas, with all the sacrifices that this implies, so that her daughter could train and compete in Santiago”, adds.
As he explains, “given the number of marginalized associations, athletes and leaders,” a parallel federation was even created: the Fechiteme Senior.
“The new sports organization was headed by the prominent public man and former mayor of La Cisterna, Don Santiago Rebolledo, thus dividing our sport and the table tennis family,” reads the document.
Collections “not very transparent”
Consulted by BioBioChile, the jurist details that by means of the appeal they request the termination of the collection to the associations for the concept of the gaming license.
Along these lines, it indicates that it is “an arbitrary and illegal charge.” It also states that “it is a barrier to entry for the athletes themselves.”
“As a result of this game license fee, we have detected that 20 million are missing per year in 2016 and 2020 ″accuses the professional. Something that attributes it to the lack of delivery of transparent information in this regard.
Finally, he criticizes that only some associations are asked for such collection, and other beneficiaries are not. “This has to end at once”, sentence the lawyer.
“We do not give statements”
After being consulted by BioBioChile, director Henry Reimberg sent the media a brief statement with which he declined to refer to the judicial process.
“On the recommendation of our legal advisor, the Table Tennis Federation does not give statements or issue opinions regarding the matters that are broadcast in courts of Justice,” he says.
“It will be the courts that will have to, through their protection sentences, determine in this phase the matter debated,” the message ends.
Once the presentation of this appeal was known, the former national select Carlos Hellesmans also became part of the legal action.
“I do so, because I have been affected by severe acts of discrimination and self-supervision by the appealed Chilean Table Tennis Federation, headed by Henry Eduardo Reimberg Fuentes,” the letter reads.
Everything must be resolved by the capital court of appeal.
