Sharara accusé de corruption par l'ETTU

The International Table Tennis Federation or the ITTF is under great controversy after the current President Adham Sharara was accused for serious allegations involving abuse of power and malversation of funds amounting to 20 million US dollars. The plaintiff is the European Table Tennis Union who's current leader is Stefano Bosi, also running for the ITTF Presidency this year.

Legal Evening News. As the reelection of the ITTF presidency of Adham Sharara is getting nearer, controversies arise saying that the current leader of the ITTF is involved in long-term infringements involving money and power.

Adham Sharara has been with the International Table Tennis Federation since 1989 as he hold the position of ITTF Vice President for North America. It was only in 1999 he became the ITTF President. In his 14 years of service as president, Sharara has been through a number of criticisms and now as he runs for reelection, criticisms has increased to allegations.

At the start of this month, a letter, signed by European Table Tennis Union or ETTU President Stefano Bosi was sent to the leaders of the different continental federations. Such letter exposed some of the accusations against Adham Sharara.

It says: "We found that Adham Sharara has been involved in a long-term and serious breach of the ITTF regulations and ethical standards. It is even possible that he also has civil violations. In particular, he is involved in serious violations on the Olympic charter. In addition, Sharara has established a complex system to aid him and his relatives to seek benefits from the ITTF."

The letter came with a 15-page material that has a detailed information on their allegations against Adham Sharara. It involved abuse of power with the ITTF's international table tennis marketing company, TMS. In addition, there was also an issue of malversation of funds amounting to 20 million US dollars.

With this regard, the Secretary General of the Asian Table Tennis Federation and the President of the Chinese Hong Kong Table Tennis Association Tony Yue said that Sharara has already replied to the allegation and has expressed his willingness to prove his innocence.

"As of now, it is only us who received the mail from the European Table Tennis Union and Sharara has already emailed us about the matter. He said that he will provide a detailed explanation of the material. We are still waiting for it." Tony Yue said.

The ETTU might appear to be confident with their sufficient evidences but Tony Yue said that Sharara is also very confident in his reply. "As of now, it is only the European Table Tennis Federation who has spoken, we still haven't seen the other side of the story so we still maintain a neutral mind. We cannot just simply say who's right or wrong." Tony Yue concluded.

During the upcoming World Championships in Paris, the ITTF plans for a reelection of the president. However, ETTU President Stefano Bosi hopes to replace Adham Sharara as he has already announced his candidature.