The International Table Tennis Federation is counterattacking. After Tuesday's eventful General Assembly in Doha, suspended after the announcement of the re-election of Petra Sörling, the ITTF issued a statement to respond to the accusations. It assures that the electoral process took place " in strict accordance with the ITTF Constitution and Bylaws and in full respect of the rights of member associations " She thus recalls that " since 2020, she has been using secure electronic voting systems to ensure integrity and confidentiality, supervised by LUMI, a highly reputable company also used by several sports institutions such as the International Olympic Committee ».
At the time of the call, 201 member associations had confirmed their attendance: 185 in person and 16 online. However, the ITTF Statutes clearly state that each federation has one vote, even if it is not present at the time of the call at the start of the day. " Member association vote totals fluctuated throughout the day as delegates joined and left the meeting (both online and in person). This information was transparently displayed to all delegates during the AGM. ", replies the ITTF. Hence a final number of 21 online votes, contested by Khalil Al-Mohannadi's supporters.
« While the presidential election was already over, the AGM had to be suspended following the disruption initiated by individuals who were neither delegates of member associations, nor members of the executive board, the council, committees or guests. The ITTF regrets and strongly condemns this disruption.. She will lead an investigation to determine the various responsibilities and will take measures, in particular, to prevent such disruption from happening again in the future " concludes the international federation.
