Jean-Michel Saive for President!

[Townsman]

A living legend in his own country, at a Press Conference staged in his native Belgium on the morning of Thursday 19th January Jean-Michel Saive announced that in the forthcoming elections, he will stand for President of the International Table Tennis Federation.

The election will be held at the Annual General Meeting staged in the German city of Düsseldorf on Wednesday 31st May on the occasion of the Liebherr 2017 World Championships. Jean-Michel Saive lines up alongside Germany's Thomas Weikert and Qatar's Khalil Al-Mohannadi, the current respective holders of the offices of President and Deputy President.

He has issued an 11 Point Programme


1-0 TABLE TENNIS FIRST, ITTF FIRST

My motto is Table Tennis First, ITTF First. The ITTF is very ambitious in trying to make table tennis one of the top sports in the World and the ITTF one of the top federations in the World. We must create an atmosphere of “Excellence” in all ITTF activities.


2-0 CONSULTATION AND COMMUNICATION

All major decisions will be made only after extensive consultation with the member national associations and all stakeholders, this includes any major decisions affecting the World Table Tennis Championships. In particular, we will increase “two-way” communications with our Continental Federations, National Associations, the Board of Directors, and all groups that work on the development of our sport.


3-0 SPORT FOR ALL

At the heart of my candidacy, there is a desire that is fundamental to me: I want to pay more attention to the base of our sport, the hundreds of millions of players who are in love with table tennis! The ITTF must be a federation for all and not just for the elite. I would also like to integrate the World Veteran Championships and the Veteran Circuit into the ITTF’s competition programme.


4-0 ITTF ROLE MODELS

In consultation with the Continental Federations, we will appoint Athlete Role Models, one male and female from each Continent, to promote our sport.


5-0 CLOSER RELATIONS WITH THE IOC AND THE OLYMPIC MOVEMENT

The ITTF could and should be much closer to the IOC. One of my major aims is to increase the number of events and medals at the Olympic Games.


6-0 DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION

The ITTF has one of the best development programmes in the world of sport. The ITTF staff and volunteers work extremely hard on a daily basis, with limited funds and resources, to develop our sport worldwide. My intention is to double the development budget and to provide the necessary human resources to spread our sport throughout every part of the world.


7-0 EQUIPMENT AND QUALITY OF TABLE TENNIS BALLS

Players at all levels, especially at lower levels, complain about the poor quality of table tennis balls. I will personally visit our manufacturer partners.


8-0 STABILITY

My intention is to convince all levels of decision-makers within the ITTF not to make any more changes to our rules (Laws of Table Tennis) for a set period of time. Instead, out of official competitions, we can welcome experiments and tests to evaluate the impact changes would have. I believe that we need this period of stability..


9-0 MARKETING AND PRESENTATION OF OUR SPORT

The ITTF is revitalizing its marketing strategies. Our goal should be to introduce new sponsors and advertisers from different parts of the world and to provide them with a high return on their investment in terms of the promotion and visibility of their product. We must make table tennis more “fashionable.”


10-0 GOOD GOVERNANCE

Good governance and good management is my number one priority. We will ensure that the ITTF follows all aspects of good management and respects all principles of good governance..


....11 LEADERSHIP AND TEAM CONCEPT

Table tennis has the distinction of being both an individual and a team sport. It was a privilege to have competed not only as an individual, but also as a very passionate team member. I intend to lead the ITTF as a team player.

Saive is of course the best choice for our sport!

[Flo98]

Make Table Tennis great again

[Stefano-IT]

Greetings from Italy!

I hope that Jean-Michel Saive will win the election and be the new ITTF President! This will be a big chance for our sport!


Personal website of Jean-Michel Saive
http://www.jmsaive.be


Informations:

JMS: “I am a candidate for the position of ITTF president for the period of 2017-2021.”

http://www.jmsaive.be/2017/01/19/its-time/

English : http://www.saive4president.com/
Francais : http://www.saive4president.com/index-fr.html
Espanol : http://www.saive4president.com/index-es.html


Jean-Michel Saive's Program:
http://www.saive4president.com/pdf/J...amme_EN-HD.pdf

More about Jean-Michel Saive:
http://www.saive4president.com/pdf/J...dent-CV-EN.pdf

[Townsman]

Zitat von Montana37

Saive is of course the best choice for our sport!

I agree.

How do you see the chances for the 3 candidates? Is there an odds-on favourite and an underdog?

I see Khalil Al-Mohannadi from Qatar as an underdog.

The question is, if he will catch votes from Jean-Michel Saive or from Thomas Weikert?

Do the two other candidates Thomas Weikert (GER) and Khalil Al-Mohannadi (QAT) also have already a program?

I hope that this german guy will not be elected. I think he has no good ideas for table tennis and things like the as revolution announced TTX had been ridiculous. Did he do any really good things, why he should stay as ITTF President? I think not.

Jean-Michel Saive would be a big chance for table tennis! Over years he could draw a destinction of our sport and develope the future.

[Flo98]

Zitat von Townsman

How do you see the chances for the 3 candidates? Is there an odds-on favourite and an underdog?

I see Khalil Al-Mohannadi from Qatar as an underdog.

I suppose:

40% Thomas Weikert GER
40% Jean-Michel Saive BEL
20% Khalil Al-Mohannadi QAT

Zitat von Townsman

The question is, if he will catch votes from Jean-Michel Saive or from Thomas Weikert?

I have really no idea.

Zitat von Townsman

Do the two other candidates Thomas Weikert (GER) and Khalil Al-Mohannadi (QAT) also have already a program?

I saw only the program of Jean-Michel Saive. Maybe Thomas Weikert and Khalil Al-Mohannadi will publish their program in february.

Zitat von Townsman

I hope that this german guy will not be elected. I think he has no good ideas for table tennis and things like the as revolution announced TTX had been ridiculous. Did he do any really good things, why he should stay as ITTF President? I think not.

I am from germany, but I would also vote for Jean-Michel Saive.

TTX is maybe not bad, but how they introduced it and what happened since the Olympic Games in Rio, was totally unprofessional.

Zitat von Townsman

Jean-Michel Saive would be a big chance for table tennis! Over years he could draw a destinction of our sport and develope the future.

I agree totally! He is really a great chance for our sport.