Table tennis bosses cite ‘ping-pong diplomacy’ in giving Russian, Belarusian players chance to return as neutrals

International Table Tennis Federation says sport has history of ‘bringing people together’ as it outlines way back for athletes

Olympic bosses have made it clear they want sporting federations to lift any bans

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Table tennis’ governing body plans to allow Russian players back into its events. Photo: AP

Published: 2:30pm, 31 Mar 2023

The governing body of table tennis has cited ‘ping-pong diplomacy’ and the sport’s history of bringing people together as its reason for allowing Russian and Belarusian players to compete as neutrals.

Earlier this week, the International Olympic Committee issued a set of recommendations for sports federations to follow that would allow athletes from the two countries to return since their ban last year, which followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a war Belarus helped launch.

On Thursday, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) said players from those two countries could resume competing “under strict conditions of neutrality” from May at the earliest, but cannot enter that month’s world championships after missing qualifiers.

The governing body, which will create its own guidelines to specify the conditions of their participation, said it was “acutely aware of the potential dialogues sport can create”.

It cited the example American table tennis players travelling to China in 1971 for a series of exhibition games which helped thaw relations between the two countries.

The bat used by former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch in an exhibition match with Chinese Olympic champion Deng Yaping on display at the International Olympic Museum in Lausanne. Photo: Xinhua

“Table tennis has a long history of bringing people together even when political ties have been tenuous,” the ITTF said. “It can build bridges, leading to better understanding among peoples, and open the door for peace building in ways that exclusion and division cannot.