"Whose house?", asked revered rapper (and now Reverend) Run of Run-D.M.C., eliciting the overwhelming consensus from all present: "Run's house!" Alas, there is no such unanimity at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). An ongoing rift between ITTF President Thomas Weikert (pictured, right) and Deputy President Khalil Al-Mohannadi (pictured, left) now threatens to tear the 95-year-old institution apart. Weikert and Al-Mohannadi, pictured here during happier times, have been embroiled in a bitter power struggle which has become public in the last year. Tensions began to froth over in February 2020 when Weikert broke a 2017 campaign promise not to seek reelection, announcing he had decided to seek a second term in 2021 after all. In May 2020, Al-Mohannadi and executive vice-president for finance Petra Sörling wrote an open letter to all ITTF member associations expressing dissatisfaction with Weikert and calling for new leadership. In spite of this indirect insurrection, all three remain on the ITTF Executive Committee. This assuredly makes things awkward as the ITTF attempts to navigate the pandemic, the launch of World Table Tennis and the upcoming Olympics, just to name a few logistical challenges. Now, things have gone from bad to you can't make this stuff up. This year, Weikert suspended Al-Mohannadi for violating the ITTF constitution, claiming the Deputy President concealed his private business' financial ties with German table tennis manufacturer JOOLA. After Weikert relieved Al-Mohannadi of his duties, the ITTF Executive Committee (EC) voted to reinstate Al-Mohannadi and render Weikert's position ceremonial and make all decisions by majority until the next Annual General Meeting in September. ITTF Deputy President Khalil Al-Mohannadi recently wrote to Weikert: "In the last few months, I have found you are mainly only bringing to the ITTF conflicts and problems." Furthermore, Weikert did not accept the EC's decision to remove him from power, calling the move "unauthorized interference with his rights and a blatant violation of the ITTF Constitution." He has taken his case to the newly formed ITTF Tribunal, a theoretically impartial panel of seven legal authorities from around the world assembled to adjudicate exactly this sort of incessant internecine squabbling. While many questions remain, the one startling clarity to emerge from the fracas is the utter dysfunction at the highest levels of our sport's governance. Despite the mutual distrust between himself and the EC, President Thomas Weikert appears ready to fight for his job. If he seeks reelection, he will in effect be asking the ITTF's member associations, "Whose house?" If no unifying figure emerges to challenge him, the embattled President may continue to proclaim, "Weikert's house!"

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