The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) received the prestigious “Unity Trophy” from International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Dr Thomas Bach, in recognition of the federation’s significant achievements and recent innovations in the Olympic Movement.
President Bach, currently attending the ITTF World Championships Finals 2025 in Doha, Qatar, presented the award during his keynote address at the ITTF Summit. The ceremony marked a historic milestone for the global table tennis community, culminating in a celebratory group photograph capturing this moment of recognition and unity.
President Bach commented:
“The motto for our Olympic Agenda 2020 is: “change or be changed”. That means you have the choice. Either you do the change by yourselves, or the change will be imposed to you by others who may have very different interests than yours about the sports and the values we are standing for.
“In this respect, I must say we were and are really impressed with how the table tennis family embraced, addressed and drove this change.
“We could see it with a great sporting success in Paris 2024. Your figures in the broadcasting and the digital media which went, like others, through the roof, and on which you can build. These figures do not fall from heaven, you have to work for it. You have to take the right decisions and initiatives. This is what you did in the table tennis world: you did it on the field of play with a reform of your competition format, with the presentation of your athletes, by embracing innovative technology and you did it also off the field of play. All these initiatives did not only earn you our high respect and appreciation, they also gave us the great confidence in the future development of table tennis. And this is why we decided, even before your world championships, even before this summit, to give a sixth medal to table tennis in the Olympic Games. And we took this decision for only one racket sport: table tennis. Congratulations.
“Today, what I can wish you, and what I can ask you for, is to continue to be such an important partner and member of the Olympic movement. Continue to live your values, and stress the values. Continue to strengthen your solidarity program. Continue your innovative approach when it comes to the organization of competitions. And continue with your efforts to make table tennis a true global sport where everybody has an opportunity, where every member federation has an opportunity not only to play but to be competitive and to contribute to the overall flourishing of your sport.
“I can promise you that the IOC will stand at your side.
“In this respect, I can speak for my successor, the president-elect Kirsty Coventry, since she has been elected because she’s exactly committed to all these values. You can be very confident that you will have with her great and true friend and supporter.
“So let’s together drive the Olympic movement. Let’s drive table tennis to new heights. This is my invitation for you. And this is my, and our, offer to you. Thank you very much.”