Table Tennis moves up a group in new IOC IF Funding Distribution
Previously listed in the fourth group for the distribution of Olympic revenues to international federations, table tennis has received a major boost by being promoted to the third group.
The announcement was made in the Russian city of St Petersburg on Wednesday 29th May 2013 by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the SportAccord Convention; an occasion where a joint meeting comprising the IOC Executive Board and the Association of Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) was staged.
A higher rating underlines the secure status of table tennis within the Olympic movement, as it is a sport with global popularity with 218 member associations, promotes the ideals of the Olympic Spirit, and was a huge success at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Since table tennis's inclusion in the Olympic program in Seoul 1988, it has grown in stature, which was portrayed in London, where 99.3% of tickets were sold and over 460,000 hours of table tennis was watched on TV globally.
"Our dream has always been to move up the sports groupings at the Olympic Games; we have been in group D for a long time and we have been doing everything we can to move up", said Adham Sharara, ITTF President. "Finally the groups that were formed in 1992 have been revised by the IOC; table tennis is now in Group C, with only eight sports ahead of us."
It means that for Adham Sharara he is a step closer to his avowed target.
"Our goal now is to move in the top five as explained at the AGM in Paris; "P" for promotion as the main priority of our P5 plan, powered by the new DBI system of operations will definitely lead us in the right direction of the top sports in the World", stressed Adham Sharara. "I am delighted that this excellent news sets the stage to reach our goal and provides all of us, volunteers and professionals, the motivation to keep on working for our sport."
Sports were judged according to six criteria, each being given a weighting factor.
Television: the television audiences that each sport attracted during the games - Factor 40 Internet: the number of internet page views and social media mentions - Factor 20 General public: favourite sports, according to a survey - Factor 15 Spectators: ticket requests in the host territory – Factor 10 Press: number of favourable press articles – Factor 10 Universality: number of national federations – Factor 5
The ranking of Olympic Sports are as follows: Group A: aquatics, athletics, gymnastics Group B: basketball, cycling, football (soccer), tennis, volleyball Group C: archery, badminton, boxing, judo, rowing, shooting, table tennis, weightlifting Group D: canoe/kayak, equestrian, fencing, handball, (field) hockey, sailing, taekwondo, triathlon, wrestling Group E: modern pentathlon, golf, rugby sevens
