Petra Sörling (SWE) was re-elected President of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Doha on Tuesday, 27 May 2025. Sörling received 104 votes, while her opponent, Khalil Al-Mohannadi (QAT), received 102.
Election Process and Outcome
As the communication of the outcome of the election resulted in the disruption of the AGM and in unsubstantiated allegations of irregularity, the ITTF would like to clarify that the election process was conducted in strict accordance with the ITTF Constitution and Statutes and in full respect of the Member Associations’ rights. In particular:
- Article 1.48.4. of the ITTF Constitution authorises voting in person, online, or in a hybrid format.
- Since 2020, the ITTF has employed secure electronic voting systems to ensure integrity and confidentiality, overseen by LUMI, a highly reputable company also used by several sports institutions such as the International Olympic Committee.
- A total of 208 Member Associations registered to take part in and vote on all the decisions scheduled at the ITTF AGM 2025. All the delegates were informed of this at the outset of the AGM.
- In accordance with the AGM agenda (1.46.1.2.), the ITTF Secretary General proceeded to call the roll of Member Associations. 201 Member Associations confirmed their presence at that time, with 185 Member Associations in person and 16 online. In accordance with the ITTF Statutes (1.48.1.), each Member Association present at the AGM, not in arrears, has one vote, irrespective of whether it is present in person or online, at the time of the roll call or at a later stage during the AGM.
- During the AGM, the total of votes placed by the member associations fluctuated throughout the day’s proceedings, as delegates joined and left the meeting (both online and in person). This information was transparently displayed for all delegates during the AGM.
- It was agreed by the AGM to elect the ITTF President by secret ballot and online means, as per the request of the two candidates. Therefore, the presidential election was conducted in a hybrid mode, those present in Doha (185) voted manually by placing paper ballot with their vote into the voting box, with the appointed scrutinisers present, and those who present online (21) voted online using the secured system that has been used for all the decisions since the beginning of the AGM as well as in previous ITTF elections (LUMI).
- Once the paper ballots were counted, LUMI displayed the in-person votes received (185) and the online votes received (21) for a total of 206 votes received.
- The results showed a difference of two votes in favour of Ms Petra Sörling, and the AGM Chair proclaimed Ms Petra Sörling President of the ITTF for the next term 2025-2029.
In light of the above, the ITTF rejects the misconceived statement by some Member Associations to recognise any other result.
The ITTF will not comment any further on the election process at this stage and will address any formal complaint it should receive in the appropriate forum.
AGM Suspension and Next Steps
After the presidential election had already concluded, the AGM had to be suspended following the disruption initiated by individuals who were neither delegates from Member Associations, nor members of the Executive Board, Council, Committees, or invited guests.
The ITTF regrets and strongly condemns the disruption. It will conduct an investigation to determine the various responsibilities and take measures, in particular, to avoid a similar disruption from happening in the future.
As an immediate step, the AGM will need to be reconvened to address the agenda items that could not be dealt with, including the election of the Executive Vice-Presidents, the appointment of the Continental Representatives of the ITTF Council and the appointment of the Committee Members. In line with Article 1.87.1. of the ITTF Statutes, the term of office of the ITTF Council Members is four years. The current ITTF Council was elected (Executive Vice-Presidents), ratified (Continental Representatives of the ITTF Council) on 24th November 2021. Their term will therefore expire on 24th November 2025. Accordingly, the elections and ratifications of the Members must take place before this date.
Remaining Agenda items:
- Election of ITTF Executive Vice-Presidents
- Ratification of the ITTF Council Members
- Appointment of Committee Members
- ITTF in 2026 – One Hundred Years
- Next General Meeting
- Any Other Business
- Adjournment
The date and modalities of the AGM continuation will be announced in due course.
