Mounir Bessah – Reinforcing Member Relations

Currently the only sports organisation in the world boasting a maximum 226 Members, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) will be setting up a new department within its ever-growing professional staff structure, dedicated towards supporting all affiliated National Associations and Continental Federations.

The Member Relations Department will be active from 1^st September 2019 and will focus on ensuring that all financial support provided through various ITTF initiatives is implemented in the best interests of table tennis. The department will work closely with the National Associations and Continental Federations, as the ITTF continues to take the sport to new heights professionally across the globe.

Following a recent recruitment drive, which included a search for the position of Member Relations Director, the ITTF is pleased to announce the appointment of Mounir Bessah to lead the new department. Enjoying a proven track record within the ITTF Competition Department for many years, Bessah recently oversaw the highly successful Liebherr 2019 ITTF World Table Tennis Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

“I am very honoured and excited to take the lead of the new Member Relations Department and I shall do my best to fulfil this new challenge. My door is open to all National Associations and Continental Federations in order to assist and support their projects to implement their own goals and to further deliver the ITTF Strategic Plan.” – Mounir Bessah, ITTF Member Relations Director

Gabor Felegyi – Focus on future World Table Tennis Championships

Following a series of reforms, which first commenced in 2016 and have been reinforced by the extensive work of the Future Events Working Group, the ITTF is pleased to announce the hiring of Gabor Felegyi into the role of World Table Tennis Championships Project Manager.

Previously as Secretary General of the Hungarian Table Tennis Association (HTTA), Felegyi helped to oversee the successful running of the Liebherr 2019 ITTF World Table Tennis Championships in Budapest. He will start his ITTF career on 16^th September 2019.

The new position of World Table Tennis Championships Project Manager has been designed to focus fully on the future growth of the World Championships, the most prestigious event in table tennis, which first started in 1926 and keeps going from strength to strength.

In 2021, the ITTF will enter new ground when USA stages the event for the first time in history in what will also be the debut year of the expanded and improved World Table Tennis Championships Finals.

“It is a great honour for me that after the World Table Tennis Championships in Budapest, I have this opportunity to take part in another priority project of the ITTF. This position entails huge responsibility since future World Championships will pave the way for the modernisation of our sport, and I look forward to playing a key role in the growth and expansion of this great event.” – Gabor Felegyi, ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Project Manager

ITTF recruitment drive hits new heights

In recent months, the ITTF has hired into a number of key positions:

Zhou Dao has joined as Head of Media (Asia). A former employee of China Central Television (CCTV) and boasting extensive experience at World Table Tennis Championships over the past 15 years, she has recently relocated to the ITTF Singapore Office, where she will work directly with the rest of the ITTF Marketing Department to help drive promotion of the sport and its stars across the Asian continent and indeed the world.

Last week, the first ever ITTF World Veterans Tour event took place in Shenzhen, China, in which Veterans Manager, Jose Bentes, was on site to manage the competition. Bentes is working closely with Managing Director of Product Innovation, Gordon Kaye, to run the unprecedented professional event series for the growing international veteran table tennis community.

Following the restructuring of the ITTF World Rankings at the beginning of 2018, and in light of further revisions taking place, the arrival of World Ranking Manager, Javier Angulo, will be important to ensure that the integrity of the World Rankings is maintained on a monthly basis, and the ITTF looks forward to providing weekly World Rankings in the near future.

“Over the past 18 months, the ITTF has more than doubled in terms of the total number of professional staff employed, which demonstrates the enormous growth of the federation in recent times. The investment in Human Resources, which has seen a complete restructuring of the High Performance & Development Department over the past two years, as well as additional hires in both Marketing and Competition Departments, has brought about an increase in terms of the overall activities implemented under the 2018-2024 ITTF Strategic Plan.” – Michael Brown, ITTF Chief Financial Officer

If you are interested in joining the team at the ITTF and keen to play a part in the exciting rise of table tennis across the world, there are further job opportunities available.

Click here to keep an eye out for all advertised vacancies.