Nigeria’s Wahid Enitan Oshodi will be among 17 global candidates vying for eight available positions as Executive Vice Presidents of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) on Tuesday, May 27, in Doha, Qatar.

The election will take place during the ITTF Annual General Meeting. All candidates have been vetted and approved by the Nominations Committee following the ITTF Electoral and Appointment Regulations, following their meeting on March 6, 2025.

Oshodi, one of four incumbents seeking re-election, is widely regarded as a strong contender due to his significant contributions during his first term on the Executive Board. His leadership and diplomacy have earned him respect within the global table tennis community.

In 2024, Oshodi was elected President of the African Table Tennis Federation (ITTF Africa), further cementing his influence in the sport. He played a pivotal role in resolving tensions between World Table Tennis (WTT) and the athletes’ community, enhancing his reputation as a unifying figure.

Other candidates for the Executive Vice President positions include: Hajera Hajee (South Africa), Robert Jjagwe (Uganda), Ayman Ali (Sudan), Beatrice Romanescu (Romania), Paul Calle (Ecuador), Ichiro Hoshino (Japan), Imre Kovacsics (Hungary), Veli Ozan Cakir (Turkey), Alaor Azevedo (Brazil), Alaa Meshref (Egypt), Anthony Moore (Australia), Liu Guoliang (China), Stefano Bosi (Italy), Princess Zeina Rashid (Jordan), Virginia Sung (USA) and Ryu Seungmin (South Korea).

Meanwhile, Andrew Mudibo (Kenya), Elhajji Monqid (Morocco), and Lotfi Guerfel (Tunisia) have withdrawn their candidacies.

In addition to the Vice Presidential race, the ITTF Presidential election will also take place, featuring three candidates: incumbent Petra Sörling (Sweden), Khalil Al-Mohannadi (Qatar), and newcomer Mohamed El Hacen Ahmed Salem (Mauritania).

Sörling, the first female ITTF President, was elected in 2021 during a turbulent period marked by the global pandemic and geopolitical tensions. Her tenure has been credited with stabilising the federation’s finances and promoting unity through sport. She also became the first ITTF President to earn a seat on the International Olympic Committee (IOC), a milestone that has elevated the sport’s global profile.

Backed by major sporting nations, Sörling is seeking a second term to build on the momentum of the past four years and continue advancing the sport worldwide.

The ITTF, with 227 member associations, remains the largest sports federation globally, and the upcoming elections are expected to shape the future of table tennis for years to come.

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The Nigeria Football Federation President, Ibrahim Musa Gusau has been elected as the President of WAFU Zone B. Before now, he was the 1st Vice President of the West African sub-regional football body, having been elected in November 2024.

But this Monday, he was installed as the President following the resignation of Kurt Edwin Simeon-Okraku, the President of the Ghana Football Association, who left the WAFU B number one seat following his election into the Executive Committee of the Confederation of African Football two months ago.

Gusau thus becomes the fifth Nigerian to hold a top position in the West African subregional football body.

Others before him include the founding president, Joseph Kwamina Tandoh, who at the time was a vice chairman of the then Nigeria Football Association (NFA).

He is the father of Dr Kweku Tandoh, the Executive Secretary of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the ongoing 22nd National Sports Festival in Ogun State.

The other Nigerian who had led WAFU are Jonathan Boytie Ogufere from 1988 to 1994; Abdulmumini Aminu (1999 to 2002) and Amos Adamu (2008 to 2010), under whose tenure, the hitherto 16-nation body was divided into two – WAFU A and WAFU B.

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A Rio de Janeiro court ordered the board of Brazil’s Football Confederation (CBF) to be removed from their positions, including president Ednaldo Rodrigues on Thursday.

Fernando Sarney, one of the CBF’s vice-presidents who requested Rodrigues’ removal, was appointed interim president and was tasked with holding elections “as soon as possible”.

The CBF told Reuters it would not comment immediately.

The court case concerns the alleged forgery of former CBF president Antonio Carlos Nunes de Lima’s signature on an agreement with Rodrigues earlier this year.

The agreement effectively allowed Rodrigues to be re-elected as leader of the organisation until 2030.

In his decision, Rio de Janeiro court judge Gabriel de Oliveira Zefiro said that Nunes’ defence cited health issues that prevented him from attending a hearing, adding that the former president’s mental capacity had been in doubt since 2018, when he was diagnosed with brain cancer.

“I declare null and void the agreement signed between the parties, previously approved by the Superior Court, due to the mental incapacity and possible forgery of the signature of Antonio Carlos Nunes de Lima,” the judge said.

“As a result the logical consequence is the recognition of the illegitimacy of the current CBF administration. The entity cannot remain leaderless, and it is imperative that lawful elections be held, in accordance with the law,” he added.

Rodrigues had previously been removed as president in December 2023, following a ruling by the Rio de Janeiro Court of Justice, after a dispute over the CBF’s electoral process.

However, a month later, Brazilian Justice Minister Gilmar Mendes ordered his reinstatement, citing the risk of the Brazil national team being barred by FIFA.

FIFA, nonetheless, ruled out sanctions following Rodrigues’ return, as it does not accept government interference in football affairs.

Rodrigues, who was successfully re-elected in March, is facing his second removal just three days after the announcement of Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti as the new manager of the Brazilian national team, in preparation for the 2026 World Cup.

–Reuters