ITTF Becomes Largest International Federation

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is now the largest International Federation, with 222 National Associations.

Sao Tome & Principe and South Sudan were accepted into the ITTF family today at the ITTF Annual General Meeting (AGM) to overtake Volleyball as the largest International Federation.

At this historic moment, the ITTF President Mr Thomas Weikert stated “As the ITTF President I am very proud that ITTF has achieved the number one status in terms of membership as our goal is not just to be among the top five sports overall, but also within each area. This is then another milestone on the path to achieve this.”

The newest additions is a result of the ITTF’s Development Program’s objective to grow national associations to have table tennis played in every corner of the globe.

The ITTF Development Program, which was initiated in 1999, has now added 42 new National Associations, with new addition of 2-3 new members per year.

Now Table Tennis will be played on even more tables around the world.

Quantity is not what the ITTF is solely looking at; the Program offers support for member associations around the world support in terms of equipment, coach training, player training and more to assist them in developing and growing in a sustainable way.

With the inclusion of Sao Tome & Principe and South Sudan, the ITTF will only have 4 more countries, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde and Bahamas, remaining in the Olympic family to integrate in order to reach its final goal of having a National Association in every country possible.

The ITTF is currently in contact with the Olympic Committees of these remaining countries, aiming to achieve full inclusion of all members of the Olympic family to the table tennis family.

The ITTF AGM was held in conjunction with the Qoros 2015 World Table Tennis Championships currently being held in Suzhou, China. Click here: http://bit.ly/15WTTC for more information on the world’s biggest table tennis event.

2015 To Be The Biggest Year In ITTF History

ITTF

2015 is set to be a landmark year for the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), with a record amount of prize money, exposure, participation levels, as well as development and training programs reaching new heights.

The overall prize money at ITTF events in 2015 hits US$3,570,000, which is the most in the history in a calendar year for the ITTF.

The GAC Group 2015 World Tour, which will see the world’s best players travel to 22 stops around the world, including new events at North Korea and Bulgaria, will reach a record prize money pool of US$3,000,000. The rest of the massive prize pool will come from the World Team Cup held in January this year, Women’s World Cup and the LIEBHERR Men’s World Cup, which will both be held in October.

The QOROS 2015 World Table Tennis Championships, to be held in Suzhou, China on 26 April – 3 May, will be the most watched table tennis event of all time, with a record TV distribution and online streaming presence expected to see the 150 national associations compete.

The ITTF is set to become only the third International Federation to pass 1,000,000 social media fans, with only 20,000 more fans across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Weibo needed to reach the milestone.

Table tennis will be bigger and better than ever in 2015!

ITTF’s Development and Education program, which has gone from strength to strength, is set to go to new heights with the inaugural World Table Tennis Day being launched on 6 April 2015 at Mt Everest.

At the 2015 AGM, the ITTF is lined up to become the number one International Sports Federation in terms of membership reaching 221 with the addition of Sao Tome Principe. This goes a long way achieving one of the ITTF Development Program’s key guiding principles – to have table tennis played in every corner of the world.

The tension amongst the players will be high in 2015, as the road to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games starts! The first event the players can earn their golden ticket to Rio is the inaugural European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan in June.

All these exciting factors, plus many more surprises to come makes 2015 definitely a year to get excited about!

ITTF Now has the Equal Most National Associations of any Sport

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) now has 220 National Associations, which is the equal most of any sport in the world.

The ITTF Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Tokyo, Japan earlier this month accepted Mali and US Virgin Islands to join the ITTF family, which brings the ITTF equal with the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) as the world’s leading sport in terms of member countries.

Reflecting on this historic achievement, ITTF’s CEO Judit Farago stated: “The ITTF membership has been increased from 180 to 220 in 15 years which is an obvious result of the successful ITTF Development Program started in 1999.”

ITTF’s world class development program pushes ITTF National Associations to 220

“It makes us proud and happy that table tennis is played and has an established administration structure in almost every corner of the world. The fact that the number puts us equal with the FIVB in terms of membership among all International Federations is a bonus and a boost in our long-term objective to be in the top 5 sports in the Olympic movement.”

There is now only five associations that have a National Olympic Committee but are not yet an ITTF National Association: Guinea Bisseau, Cape Verde, Sao Tome & Principe, Eritrea and the Bahamas.

ITTF Deputy CEO, Glenn Tepper, who initiated the ITTF Development Program 15 years ago, added: “When I started the ITTF Development Program as a pilot project in Oceania in 1999, we had 180 members. One of the challenges given to me was to have table tennis played in every corner of the globe. Since that time we have progressively added several new members each year in a sustainable way providing technical and equipment assistance to all new members. We are now very close to our initial aim. We already have contact with the 5 remaining countries and I am confident that by the time of the Opening Ceremony at the Rio Olympic Games that table tennis will be played in every corner of the globe and that every country participating in Rio will have an active table tennis program.”

From the humble beginnings in 1999 with a budget of just US$30,000 and one staff, the ITTF Development Program has grown into an award-winning program with the world’s best practise in its field, ran by 10 full-time and 100 part-time staff providing over 100 courses and 30 equipment packages annually and with a budget of over 1 million dollars.