The race to host the Global Home of Table Tennis is heating up after 28 cities declared their interest in the chance to be known as the “Table Tennis Capital of the World” for many years to come. Spanning 18 countries across four different continents an exciting list of cities provides sky-high competition for the venue of the ITTF’s next Headquarters which will enable the centralisation of the overall workforce and drive the continued growth of the sport.
Starting Wednesday 15th January the candidate cities have received their request for proposal documentation in order to submit their initial bids between now and Wednesday 15th April 2020. Within this timeframe more cities can express an interest to the ITTF and submit their bids too. The strongest bids will be shortlisted in June with final proposals to be submitted by Tuesday 15th September 2020. The preferred Home of Table Tennis will subsequently be selected on Wednesday 30th September 2020.
The ITTF is looking for a thriving new hotspot for table tennis players business professionals coaches and officials from across the globe to unite in a single location and collectively take table tennis to the next level among the world’s leading sports. Indeed the Home of Table Tennis represents far more than office space within a new Global Headquarters but also training facilities a research lab educational hub centre for innovation local community centres and much more.
“We have grown tremendously as an organisation since June 2017 and we now have over 70 full-time staff members. Our strategy is to centralise the workforce in one location to allow for more efficient operations. What’s great is that we have received significant interest from some very big cities which interest us “ said Thomas Weikert ITTF President.
“We have adopted a professional approach to our search for a Global Home of Table Tennis with the consultation of Deloitte Withers LLP and HASSELL. Due to the high level of interest we are sure that we will end up somewhere great but we needed to make sure we invested in this with a professional approach to ensure we get the best outcome. This won’t just be any old-style headquarters. We want our future property to have plenty of table tennis activity in contrast to our current home “ added Steve Dainton ITTF CEO.
Click here to express an interest to become the Global Home of Table Tennis.
