ITTF suspends all events till June 30, freezes world rankings due to COVID-19 pandemic

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has suspended all planned events till June 30 and froze the world rankings due to the upheaval caused by the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic.

The ITTF Executive Committee met on Sunday to discuss the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on the international table tennis events schedule.

"Due to the continued uncertainty caused by COVID-19 pandemic and postponement of Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the ITTF Executive Committee reached the following decisions: Suspension of all currently planned ITTF events and activities that involve international travel until 30 June 2020," ITTF said in a statement.

ITTF also decided to freeze ranking lists as of March 2020 and further evaluate "all implications related to the postponement of events, travel restrictions and other complications, with scope for further decisions on potentially necessary adjustments".

The ITTF said that "proposal of new dates for the Hana Bank 2020 World Team Table Tennis Championships will be announced in the coming week".

The Tokyo Olympic Games were on Tuesday postponed to next year due to the rapidly-spreading disease and ITTF said once the new dates of the Olympics are announced it will adjust the qualification pathways.

The Executive Committee also decided to reduce their expenses and senior staff have offered to take a salary reduction.

The ITTF will hold another follow-up meeting on April 15 to further evaluate the situation.