International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and International e-Sports Federation (IeSF) have signed an MOU agreement to develop and promote table tennis esports.
The International Table Tennis Federation is responsible for the global sport of table tennis and has 226 affiliated National Associations and was governed in 1926. Table Tennis is an Olympic Sport, introduced at the 1988 Seoul Olympics Games. Table Tennis is also a Paralympic Sport, introduced at the 1960 Rome Paralympic Games.
Both federations have been in conversation since beginning of April this year, exploring the possibilities how the organizations can share their resources to extend their boundaries. The federations met in Singapore this May and have discussed the terms and direction both bodies should go towards.
The Federations will support each other by using its resources to look for an appropriate gamified table tennis contents and also to integrate and reflect more realistic factors of table tennis to develop a content both fit to table tennis and esports standards. The overall goal will be to have a table tennis esports World Championships.
As one of the visions of IeSF, it has been engaging with mega sports events and have started its collaboration with International Federations (IFs) to support the digital movement of the sports society. IeSF is continuing its efforts for esports to be recognized by GAISF (Global Association of International Sports Federations), former known as SportAccord, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to promote esports as a true sport beyond language, race, and cultural barriers.
