Wahid Oshodi has etched his name in sports history after being appointed as a director on the board of World Table Tennis (WTT), the commercial arm of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) becoming the first African ever to hold such a position.
The appointment was confirmed at the ITTF Executive Board meeting on March 1, 2026, held at WTT headquarters in Singapore. Alongside Oshodi, ITTF president Petra Sörling was also selected to represent the federation on the WTT board, with Sörling subsequently confirmed as board chair — succeeding Liu Guoliang of China and Khalil Al-Mohannadi of Qatar in that role.
Founded in 2019, World Table Tennis was designed to modernise and commercialise the professional game. As its majority owner, the ITTF holds responsibility for ensuring the platform delivers sustainable value to its 227 member associations worldwide, and the latest appointments are seen as a deliberate move to strengthen governance and long-term strategic direction. Lei Zhenjian and Steve Dainton retain their existing positions on the board.
Sörling underscored the weight of the moment, saying the ITTF remains the bedrock on which the sport is built, and that her role as chair is to ensure WTT operates with profitability, accountability, and a clear long-term vision.
Oshodi struck a similarly measured tone, emphasising that solid governance is the foundation for any organisation’s sustainable growth, and expressing his commitment to helping build that foundation for WTT’s future.
The appointment crowns a decorated administrative career for the Nigerian official. He currently serves as president of the African Table Tennis Federation and previously led the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), where he championed governance reforms and athlete development. Under his watch, grassroots initiatives and talent discovery programmes gained fresh momentum, earning him broad credit for strengthening the sport’s structure across Nigeria.
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