Al-Mohannadi appeals ITTF presidential vote dispute to sports court

Khalil bin Ahmed al-Mohannadi, President of the Qatar, Arab and Asian Table Tennis Federations and First Vice-President of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), has officially filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland, to contest the ITTF presidential elections.

Al-Mohannadi described the case as one of “fraud and violation of democratic legitimacy”, echoing media reports that labelled the election outcome the “steal of the century”.

The elections, held in Doha in May, ended with al-Mohannadi leading 98–87 in votes cast by national federation representatives present in the hall. However, Swedish candidate Petra Sorling gained an unexpected 17-4 advantage through remote electronic voting, tipping the final result. Al-Mohannadi rejected the validity of the 21 electronic ballots, noting that the number had originally been set at 16. The sudden increase, he said, shocked the General Assembly.

In a statement released by the Qatar Table Tennis Association (QTTA) Tuesday, al-Mohannadi emphasised that the 2022 General Assembly in Doha — where 185 federations voted in person — reflected the true will of the membership. He stressed that administrative decisions or internal ITTF procedures should not override the democratic mandate, calling any such move “a violation of the essence of the electoral process and its credibility before the international sports community.”

Responding to ITTF President Sorling’s recent remarks that “the file has been closed” and “the elections have been decided”, al-Mohannadi called the statements “misleading and inaccurate”. He pointed out that the ITTF’s internal arbitration decision is not final and remains under review by CAS.

Al-Mohannadi underlined that the legal process will remain open until the ITTF General Assembly in London in 2026, where federations will again have the chance to vote. He pledged to pursue all available legal avenues “to defend transparency and protect the rights of member federations”, stressing that the dispute is not personal but “a legal and moral duty toward the global table tennis family”.

He also warned against attempts to mislead federations into believing the case is settled, calling such claims a “deliberate distortion of legal reality”. He reaffirmed that the QTTA, alongside allied federations, will continue efforts until CAS delivers its final ruling.

“Table tennis is bigger than any administrative or political dispute,” al-Mohannadi concluded, adding that safeguarding democratic legitimacy within the ITTF is “a collective responsibility to protect the future of the sport and its global reputation”.