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Khalil bin Ahmed al-Mohannadi, President of the Qatar, Arab and Asian Table Tennis Federations and First Vice-President of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), has officially filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland, to contest the ITTF presidential elections.Al-Mohannadi described the case as one of “fraud and violation of democratic legitimacy”, echoing media reports that labelled the election outcome the “steal of the century”.The elections, held in Doha in May, ended with al-Mohannadi leading 98–87 in votes cast by national federation representatives present in the hall. However, Swedish candidate Petra Sorling gained an unexpected 17-4 advantage through remote electronic voting, tipping the final result. Al-Mohannadi rejected the validity of the 21 electronic ballots, noting that the number had originally been set at 16. The sudden increase, he said, shocked the General Assembly.In a statement released by the Qatar Table Tennis Association (QTTA) Tuesday, al-Mohannadi emphasised that the 2022 General Assembly in Doha — where 185 federations voted in person — reflected the true will of the membership. He stressed that administrative decisions or internal ITTF procedures should not override the democratic mandate, calling any such move “a violation of the essence of the electoral process and its credibility before the international sports community.”Responding to ITTF President Sorling’s recent remarks that “the file has been closed” and “the elections have been decided”, al-Mohannadi called the statements “misleading and inaccurate”. He pointed out that the ITTF’s internal arbitration decision is not final and remains under review by CAS.Al-Mohannadi underlined that the legal process will remain open until the ITTF General Assembly in London in 2026, where federations will again have the chance to vote. He pledged to pursue all available legal avenues “to defend transparency and protect the rights of member federations”, stressing that the dispute is not personal but “a legal and moral duty toward the global table tennis family”.He also warned against attempts to mislead federations into believing the case is settled, calling such claims a “deliberate distortion of legal reality”. He reaffirmed that the QTTA, alongside allied federations, will continue efforts until CAS delivers its final ruling.“Table tennis is bigger than any administrative or political dispute,” al-Mohannadi concluded, adding that safeguarding democratic legitimacy within the ITTF is “a collective responsibility to protect the future of the sport and its global reputation”.

Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, at the centre of a row at the 2024 Paris Olympics, has turned to sport’s top court to attempt to overturn the introduction of a gender test, the court said Monday.The Court of Arbitration for Sport said in a statement that Khelif was challenging the global boxing federation’s decision “that disallows the athlete’s participation in upcoming World Boxing events without a preliminary genetic test”.Khelif was one of two boxers who sparked a gender eligibility furore at the Paris Games. The other was Taiwanese fighter Lin Yu-ting, who has been entered to compete at the world championships that start this week in Liverpool.Both fighters won Olympic gold medals, but Khelif’s opening bout, when she left her Italian opponent in tears, sparked criticism from a range of commentators including now-US Vice-President J D Vance and “Harry Potter” author JK Rowling.Khelif last month denied claims made by her former manager that she was putting her career on hold. “I would like to make it clear to the public that the reports of my retirement from boxing are false,” the 26-year-old wrote on Facebook.She accused her former manager, Nasser Yesfah, of “betraying (her) trust and (her) country with his false and malicious statements”. “This person no longer represents me in any way,” she said.Former heavyweight Bugner, who fought Ali twice, dies at 75Three-time European heavyweight champion boxer Joe Bugner, who fought Muhammad Ali in a world title bout, has died at the age of 75, the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC) said Monday.Bugner, who won the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles twice, fought Ali and Joe Frazier in back-to-back fights in 1973, and faced Ali again for his WBA and WBC world championships in 1975.“Joe Bugner has passed away at his care home in Brisbane, Australia,” the BBBoC said in a statement. “The British Boxing Board of Control passes on its condolences to Joe’s family.”Bugner’s professional boxing career spanned 32 years and 83 bouts, of which he won 69, including 41 by knockout. He turned professional in 1967, and won the European, British and Commonwealth titles by beating Henry Cooper in 1971.Hungary-born Bugner lost his titles six months later but won eight fights straight in 1972 before facing Ali and Frazier the next year, who both won decisions against him.Ali again beat him by unanimous decision in their rematch for the world championship in Malaysia.Bugner moved to Australia in the 1980s and won the Australian heavyweight title in 1995, before retiring in 1999.