For the first time the International Table Tennis Federation Athletes’ Commission will have two chairs – one woman and one man – elected to lead the body today in Amman Jordan ahead of the ITTF Summit. Sharath Kamal ACHANTA and LIU Shiwen were elected as joint Athletes’ Commission chairs a shift into how the commission is run as part of the ITTF’s drive for gender parity at more levels in the federation.
In addition to Sharath Kamal ACHANTA and LIU Shiwen’s election the Athletes’ Commission elected two deputy chairs Stefan FEGERL and Elizabeta SAMARA. Like the two chairs one male athlete and one female athlete was elected to ensure gender parity at the highest levels of the commission.
The other members of the Athletes’ Commission are Omar ASSAR Ingela LUNDBACK Jon PERSSON Daniely RIOS Melissa TAPPER and Kelly Van ZON.
The Athletes’ Commission is the voice of table tennis athletes in the federation allowing an avenue for them to advocate for themselves directly to the ITTF leadership. To further reinforce the voice of athletes and provide overall support the ITTF also established an Entourage working group.
