LAUSANNE: The International Table Tennis Federation announced Thursday that the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of Busan had been asked to look for new dates to host the Hana Bank 2020 World Team Table Tennis Championships, which were scheduled to be held in the South Korean city from 27 September through to 4 October.
The ITTF executive committee agreed to ask the LOC of Busan to look for new dates in the "early months of 2021" due to the fact it would be unlikely that the majority of teams would be able to travel to South Korea in September.
The executive committee further announced that once the 2021 dates for the World Championships were confirmed, and with the postponement of the Olympic and Paralympic Games also in mind, the ITTF will look at an overhaul of its original 2021 calendar planning in the coming weeks.
In terms of the 2020 calendar, the ITTF remains hopeful of staging full open international events in the last quarter of 2020. The ITTF is also investigating the possibility of holding alternative, regionally based and invitational events earlier in 2020.
Other key outcomes from the executive committee meeting:
• After a thorough consultation process, with the active participation of the ITTF Athletes Commission, the Executive Committee ratified the qualification system adjustments for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Once confirmed by the IOC and IPC respectively, these qualification systems will be formally announced.
• The Executive Committee through its foundation, together with World Table Tennis (WTT), will be providing financial support for National Associations, players and foundation projects affected by the COVID-19 crisis. More information will be announced soon.
• In light of recent global events, the ITTF underlines its zero-tolerance policy against any form of discrimination.
The ITTF executive committee will meet again on 23rd June and will continue to provide further updates on all upcoming decisions in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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