Interview with manager Nicolas Barrois (team manager, 1. FC Saarbrücken TT) “We want to make sustainable use of Fan Zhendong's commitment.”

The transfer of Olympic champion Fan Zhendong to Champions League winners 1. FC Saarbrücken TT is the dominant topic in the table tennis scene during the summer break. In an interview, FCS team manager Nicolas Barrois describes the changed challenges for the club as a result of the transfer, but also his expectations and goals.

Nicolas Barrois, when Fan Zhendong's transfer to your club, 1. FC Saarbrücken TT, was announced, you yourself described the signing of the Chinese Olympic champion as “still completely unreal.” Now, almost two months later, has it become reality for you?

It became reality for us very quickly, because with everything that came crashing down on us practically from the next day onwards, we realized almost immediately that the entire club had to prepare itself for a major task.

What does this task involve?

Ticket requests have skyrocketed, which naturally raises security issues in the arena and requires closer cooperation with our catering partners. In the first few weeks after the transfer, we had to reorganize almost every area of our business in order to continue offering the same standard of service we have provided over the past 15 years.

Fans of all other TTBL clubs are also interested in the fan deployment plan. Can you already make any concrete statements about this?

For the first half of the season, we have discussed about five to seven deployments with him and have already received positive feedback in principle. According to current estimates, there could even be more than seven deployments in the second half of the season.

Signing a top star from China like Fan surely also means complying with requirements from the government there. How does that work?

Of course, politics can never be completely ignored – but our first and direct point of contact is the player himself. We are in close, regular contact with him and openly discuss all relevant issues, from possible appearances in Germany to his other commitments, especially in China. The Chinese association is always actively involved in this process. The trusting cooperation with the player and the growing coordination with the association together provide a stable and sustainable basis for all further steps.

A project like Fan Zhendong also needs to be financed. How big is the role of your sponsors and their interest in the Chinese market?

Of course, our already increased visibility in China is great. Although the Chinese market is not interesting for all of our sponsors, it is generally a great thing for all of our partners that our visibility in Asia will be considerably greater than in the past. In addition, it was only through Fan's transfer that one or two new sponsors became aware of us.

Fans' move to your club came at a time when the TTBL had lost its most popular drawcard with the end of Timo Boll's career, and it immediately sparked a real hype. How important do you think Fans' involvement in the Bundesliga is in general?

Fans' entry into the Bundesliga is a great story. It's also good for the league, which, apart from Timo as the face of the last decades, has also lost stars such as vice world champions Hugo Calderano and Simon Gauzy. I'm not so much concerned about our club, but after talking to other club officials, I get the feeling that everyone is totally happy and that all clubs can benefit from it. I think that's really positive.

Saarbrücken has won the Champions League three times in a row and has now gained another huge boost in sporting quality. Is the “Saarbrücken era” finally dawning after the “Düsseldorf/Boll era”?

It would be totally presumptuous to say that we want to replace Düsseldorf. That cannot and will not happen in the next ten years, because Borussia Düsseldorf is Borussia Düsseldorf.

But when the Olympic champion joins the Champions League winner, there are bound to be certain expectations...

Our goal must be to engage fans as much as possible. We want to be as sustainable as possible, both financially and structurally. We have received a huge number of inquiries, for example, for volunteer positions. Of course, many of those who contact us want to see Fan Zhendong or help the club he plays for. If only 10 to 20 percent of them stay with us after Fan Zhendong's time here, we will have achieved something really good. Then the transfer will have been a great success, not only in sporting terms, but also structurally, and that should be our focus.

No formulation of sporting goals?

If the currently planned number of appearances by Fan can be realized, it is clear to us: Then we want to compete for the titles in all competitions in the coming year.

Finally, let's return to Saarbrücken's contacts with the Chinese association. What advantages can arise from this relationship?

We in Germany can only benefit from good cooperation with the Chinese, because China is simply number one in table tennis. If Fan likes it here and he still decides not to play for us at some point, China may send another star or two to make the already very attractive TTBL two percent more attractive.

Fan's commitment is also a marketing coup that has already had and will continue to have a global impact, especially in China. What potential is there?

I certainly hope that the league, partners, and clubs will pull together in this area of marketing and get the best possible result from this situation. In the best-case scenario, a platform for our sport and for our league will develop abroad, so that the league can soon be followed very widely around the world."

Thank you very much for the interview, Nicolas Barrois.

Interview: Florian Manzke