Thomas Weikert (Photo ITTF/Bernd Schaller)
International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) president Thomas Weikert of Germany has lost the confidence of his own executive committee but will continue in his role with “clipped wings” at least until the elections later this year.
Weikert was elected president in 2017 but has served in the role since 2014 after replacing the previous president Adham Sharara mid-term in 2014.
The ITTF executive committee that met earlier today, by a majority decision had informed Weikert that they have lost their trust, confidence and support in his leadership.
The committee had also decided that all future decisions should be made by a majority of the committee until the next Annual General Meeting.
They also voted in favour to re-instate Qatari Khalil Al-Mohannadi as the ITTF deputy president until such time as the initial purported decision-making authority of the president and any and all allegations against the Deputy President have been fully clarified and dealt with in accordance with due process and natural justice and as set out in the ITTF Constitution.
Al-Mohannadi ran afoul with Weikert after the former together with executive vice-president for finance Petra Sörling raised several concerns with Weikert’s leadership and expressed their hope that he is not re-elected next year.
The duo had criticised Weikert’s handling of the coronavirus crisis and had claimed that he German had placed his own interests ahead of those of the Federation.
They alleged that Weikert made “several moves and contacting national association representatives around the world, clearly with the aim to strengthen his own election platform, instead of following the decision making and meeting protocol of the ITTF Executive Committee”.
In a statement issued by the ITTF, the executive committee had this to say:
Given the challenging conditions of the past 6 to 9 months, the majority of the EC members encouraged the ITTF President to act more collaboratively with the Executive Committee and engage with the EC members in a more meaningful manner.
The Executive Committee members also hoped that, in the coming weeks, they would find positive solutions to the recent and ongoing difficulties but felt they now needed to act on their democratic and constitutional rights in order to unify the Executive Committee in the best interest of the ITTF.
In a related matter, The Deutscher Tischtennis-Bund (German Table Tennis Association – DTTB) supported by a small number of other member associations had questioned the propriety of the newly established World Table Tennis (WTT), of which Al-Mohanaddi is also a board member.
The WTT, a subsidiary created by ITTF in March 2019, manages all its commercial and events business. WTT is now developing new tournaments, attracting additional investment and enhancing both player and fan experiences in order to elevate table tennis to the upper echelon of world sport, in line with the ITTF’s 2018-2024 Strategic Plan.
Independent consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) following a thorough review process commissioned by the ITTF Executive Committee in response to the concerns had exonerated the ITTF, WTT, their related entities, their staff and officials.
The Executive Committee has also reiterated that they now have no choice but to seek advice on the appropriate legal and disciplinary actions available against the DTTB so as to protect the image, reputation and goodwill of the ITTF Parties.
The Executive Committee today unanimously agreed to send a formal letter to the DTTB setting out its position (which contains certain proposals) and giving the DTTB approximately two weeks to provide a satisfactory response.
Mr. Nestor Tenca, Executive Vice-President responsible for rules and the constitutional review on the ITTF Executive Committee stated after the meeting that: “for me there is nothing to celebrate in the middle of a crisis, but today won the democracy, common sense and justice”.
On a separate note, Weikert, wanted to put his stance on the matter for the record.
Weikert announced legal action before the respective sports courts against the majority decision of the Executive Committee, calling it an “unauthorized interference with his rights and a blatant violation of the ITTF Constitution”.
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