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Adham Sharara (born Cairo 24 March 1953) is a Canadian sports official. He is current Chairman and Honorary President of the International Table Tennis Federation, having succeeded Xu Yinsheng in 1999.[1][2] He retired as ITTF President on 2014, and was succeeded by the Deputy President the German Thomas Weikert.[3]
President of the ITTF
editAdham Sharara was President of the ITTF for 15 years, from 1999 to 2014.
In November 2007, Adham Sharara addressed the health risks related to using rubbers that are freshly glued to the blade for "a faster game" because of the associated harmful volatile compounds.[4] In February 2008, he expressed his agreement with the proposal to limit citizenship-switching players, a measure that targeted specifically Chinese players accepting deals that include changing their nationality.[5] In 2011, he moved the ITTF's headquarters from China to Singapore, to develop ties in this region and distance the federation from China's dominance in the sport,[6] a topic he seriously addressed in his last years of tenure.[7]
Sharara was elected to the newly created position of "Chairman of the ITTF" on 28 April 2014 at the ITTF Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Tokyo, Japan.[8][9]
In 2019 ITTF announced that found Mr Sharara had breached his fiduciary duties during his terms of office. Mr Adham Sharara was suspended from all activity within or in connection with the ITTF for four years.[10] Mr Sharara appealed the decision at the Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS) in Lausanne. The ITTF and Mr Sharara reached a settlement on 1 November 2020 and the suspension was cancelled. Mr Sharara remains Honorary President.
References
edit- ^ Bernd Ulrich Gross, Werner Schlager Table Tennis: Tips from a World Champion 2011 - Page 164 "Do you really believe that table tennis may become a "big sport" like the ITTF President Adham Sharara always maintains? Table tennis is already a big sport in some countries. To reach the world stage, all have to work with professionals, ."
- ^ Beijing Review - Volume 44, Issues 1-26 - Page 257 2001 "International Table Tennis Federation President Adham Sharara said on May 6 the sport would become "boring" if China continued to dominate every event, as they did at the world championships in Osaka and at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic"
- ^ "ITTF Executive Committee (EC)". ITTF. Archived from the original on 4 September 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
- ^ Harmful Table Tennis Glues to be Banned, Racketlon.com, 29 June 2007
- ^ Table tennis chief firm on limiting Chinese-born players, Phoenixtabletennisclub.org, 27 February 2008
- ^ ITTF moves Asia Pacific HQ from China to Singapore, Chinadaily.com, 1 NOvember 2011
- ^ Patrick Tan, Sharara's New Developments For Table Tennis, Tabletennista.com, 31 August 2011
- ^ "Adham Sharara elected to the new position of ITTF Chairman". ITTF Press Release. ITTF. 28 April 2014. Archived from the original on 2015-06-12. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
- ^ "ITTF Directory - Officials - Chairman". ITTF. Archived from the original on 2015-04-23. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
- ^ ITTF Executive Committee statement on former President Mr Adham Sharara