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≡ ITTF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ≡
Qatar’s Khalil Al-Mohannadi, the Senior Executive Vice President of the International Table Tennis Federation, who has been an officer of the federation for most of the last 28 years, lost the Presidential election held at the ITTF Annual General Meeting on Doha on 27 May, 104-102, against incumbent Petra Sorling (SWE).
He was part of a loud, unrestrained protest shortly after the vote was posted, with multiple people yelling and screaming at the ITTF officials running the meeting – as a candidate, Sorling was not in charge during the voting – that the vote was invalid because some federations joined online after the initial roll call to confirm a quorum.
The ITTF said that the election was properly held and on Monday, an independent, three-member panel confirmed the election results, stating:
“1. The Appeal filed by the First Appellant, Mr. Khalil Al Mohannadi, is dismissed.
“2. The Appeal filed by the Second Appellant, Qatar Table Tennis Association, is dismissed.
“3. The Decision of the ITTF Annual General Meeting as of 27 May 2025 to elect Ms Petra Sörling as the ITTF President is confirmed.”
This was not a surprise, since the voting procedure at the Annual General Meeting followed the federation’s rules. However, for Al-Mohannadi, this was only the first step in his appeals effort, as he stated in a June post outlining his plans:
“Khalil Al Mohannadi officially challenges the elections of the International Table Tennis Federation
“President of the Qatari, Arab and Asian Federations in an official statement:
“– Appeal to the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Tribunal
“– Formal claim before the [Court of Arbitration for Sport]
“– Revealing serious violations in voting, registration, and election supervision.
“– A demand to freeze electronic voting until integrity and transparency are ensured.
“‘We will not remain silent about manipulation…and we will continue to defend the legitimacy of our sport and our institutions’ – Khalil bin Ahmed Al Mohannadi”
So, the matter moves on to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which, unlike Al-Mohannadi, will take considerable note of the ITTF Tribunal hearing, which the ITTF explained, maintained a formalized process of submissions and argument:
“As the grounds will show, the ITTF Tribunal’s decision is the result of an extensive legal process initiated when QTTA and Mr. Al-Mohannadi filed their appeals on 17 June 2025, seeking to annul the result of the AGM election and that Mr. Al-Mohannadi be declared President of the ITTF. Throughout the past months, the ITTF Tribunal Hearing Panel received extensive written submissions and supporting evidence from all parties. Among the evidence submitted was, at the request of QTTA and Mr. Al-Mohannadi, the official LUMI report on online voting, including the certified tally of votes.
“The process culminated in a full hearing held on 28 August 2025, which lasted approximately five hours. At the outset of the hearing, all parties accepted the jurisdiction of the ITTF Tribunal and confirmed the independence of the three-member Hearing Panel appointed to adjudicate the case. The parties had full opportunity to examine and cross-examine Mr. Abdulla Al Mulla, Chair of the ITTF Nominations Committee, who was called as a witness on behalf of QTTA and Mr. Al-Mohannadi. The parties were then allowed to make oral submissions and, at the end of the hearing, confirmed that their rights to be heard were fully respected.”
Only the decision has been communicated so far and the full opinion of the panel – which is key – has yet to be published.
Because of the ruckus caused by Al-Mohannadi and his supporters, the Annual General Meeting had to be suspended, with several elections still to take place; the rest of the meet must be held before the end of November and an online meeting has been suggested, which would be a considerable irony, since Al-Mohannadi complained vigorously about online voting at the May meeting.
The ITTF Integrity Unit has also not been heard from, and may be waiting for the election challenges to be completed before it considers the actions from the Annual General Meeting in May. But it is hard to believe that some consideration of sanctions will not be held after the uproarious behavior seen there.
For now, Sorling’s election has been confirmed, and on to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
¶
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