ITTF Becomes First New Partner Of The ITA

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has become the first new international sports federation (IF) to partner with the International Testing Agency (ITA). At a signing ceremony held at the ITTF’s offices in Lausanne yesterday, the ITTF fully entrusted its anti-doping work to the ITA, including in and out-of-competition testing, test-distribution planning, results management (for anti-doping rule violations), intelligence-gathering, as well as TUE exemptions and education.

“The ITTF is delighted to become the first new IF to partner with the ITA,” said ITTF President Thomas Weikert. “We have been very impressed by the way the ITA has quickly established itself and we are confident we have made the right choice in trusting the ITA with our anti-doping work.”

“The ITTF has a bold vision for the future, which we know as ‘Table Tennis. For All. For Life.’ With the anti-doping programme for table tennis now in the safe hands of the ITA, we will be able to focus even more clearly on the work required to achieve our vision for the future of table tennis.”

As the first new IF to partner with the ITA, the ITTF joins those which have already enjoyed working relationships with the Doping-Free Sport Unit (DFSU) of the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF).

“We are very grateful for the trust the ITTF has shown in choosing the ITA to promote clean sport in table tennis, by protecting its players with our help,” said the Chair of ITA’s Board Dr Valérie Fourneyron.

”By choosing the ITA to deliver its anti-doping programme, we believe the ITTF has in turn shown its players, commercial partners, competition organisers and everyone else who loves the sport just how serious the ITTF is about promoting clean sport. We appreciate this opportunity and look forward to a great working relationship.”

With the ITA now formally established and occupying new offices of its own in Lausanne, more partnership announcements are expected in the coming weeks.
‘Table Tennis. For All. For Life’ is at the heart of the ITTF’s strategic plan for the next six years, and was adopted in May. The full plan can be found here.