Sports Ministry suspends recognition of Table Tennis Federation of India
The Sports Ministry on Wednesday, August 12 suspended its recognition of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) in India, citing concerns over the federation's governance and functioning. The ministry said the action follows failures in the TTFI’s internal processes and ordered interim measures to address administration of the sport.
The ministry identified the federation's failure to hold elections within the prescribed deadline and an unsatisfactory response to a prior show-cause notice as grounds for intervention. The TTFI had faced criticism over its functioning and decision-making in recent months, prompting the ministry to move beyond correspondence to administrative action. The order tasks national stakeholders with restoring a proper governance structure before recognition can be reinstated.
"The IOA, in consultation with the international body (ITTF) will take appropriate action to create an internal regulatory mechanism, including the constitution of an ad-hoc committee, till such time that a duly constituted governance structure is restored in TTFI," the ministry order stated. The instruction names the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) as the body to implement the interim management arrangements and requires consultation with the international federation.
One high-profile dispute that attracted scrutiny occurred in June, when Indian player Manika Batra accused the TTFI of breaching its own Constitution during selection of the Asian Games squad. Batra, 31, was named among the reserves after the TTFI announced a 10-member team for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games scheduled from September 19 to October 4. Her public objections to the selection process were cited among the governance concerns surrounding the federation.
Batra said the federation had told her the team was picked strictly according to the prescribed rules but that documents in her possession showed a nine-member selection committee had taken the final decision. She questioned the selection process on that basis and raised the issue publicly, contributing to the dispute over the squad announcement. Those documents and her statements were referenced in reporting that fed into the ministry’s review.
According to Batra, the composition of the selection committee violated Article 24(C)(j) of the TTFI Constitution; the provision states that a sub-committee cannot comprise more than seven members. The selection controversy was among the matters the ministry noted when it concluded that the federation’s governance required intervention. The ministry's order places the TTFI's administrative structure under an interim arrangement while those issues are addressed.
The IOA has been directed to put in place an ad-hoc arrangement to manage the sport's affairs in India until the TTFI is able to establish a duly constituted governance structure. The ministry's instruction makes the reinstatement of formal recognition conditional on the restoration of a properly constituted TTFI governance framework.