Intro:

The President of the World Table Tennis Federation has admitted he hopes to stamp out bat tampering in the sport by Rio 2016.

Script:

The head of the world governing body of table tennis has accused players at London 2012 of tampering with their bats in order to gain advantage in competition.

President of the World Table Tennis Federation Adham Sharara has admitted his organisation have not eliminated the use of 'speed glue', which was banned after Beijing 2008.

SOUNDBITE: (English), Adham Sharara, President of the World Table Tennis Federation

"Well the rule is there. The rule is very clear. It says that you cannot manipulate, you cannot add, you cannot alter the equipment in any way. You are only allowed to take the rubber and the covering and just glue it using water-based glue on your blade. You are not supposed to do anything else. Now my view is that if you are doing anything else, of course it is cheating. But it is the same way as when you are on the highway and you see that the limit is 100 Kilometres per hour. You look around and see there are no policemen, you go 110. So the players see it this way. They say "as long as you cant detect it, why are you stopping me from doing something that helps me get there faster ?". As we would say, I don't see the policeman so I will do something that will help me get there faster."

Although no test for an illegal adhesive is in place now, Sharara hopes that there will be one in time for the 2016 Olympics in Rio.