Alkass English
Khalil bin Ahmed Al Mohannadi, President of the Qatar Table Tennis Association and former ITTF Vice-President, has formally appealed the result of the ITTF presidential election held in Doha on May 27. The closely contested vote saw Sweden’s Petra Sörling retain her position with a narrow 104–102 victory.
Al Mohannadi, citing serious procedural violations, has filed an appeal with the ITTF Tribunal and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). His concerns include discrepancies in the voting process—most notably five additional online votes appearing beyond the validated count, breaches in association registration deadlines, and the acceptance of unverified votes.
He also condemned the exclusion of the ITTF Nominations Committee from supervising the election and criticized the use of electronic voting, which contradicted the chair’s initial instruction for a paper ballot process.
In a statement posted via QTTA’s official X account, Al Mohannadi emphasized that his legal challenge goes beyond the election result itself. “It is about preserving the credibility of our institutions and the future of our sport,” he said, calling for an immediate suspension of electronic voting in ITTF elections until robust safeguards are in place.