Lunda – The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has notified Angola to regulate the international participations until December this year, under the risk of the athletes losing their ranking punctuation.
The country does not attend international competition since 2018 after the participation in the Zone 5 Tournament in Botswana, in which the team ranked second.
Talking to ANGOP this Tuesday, in Luanda, the president of the Angolan Table Tennis Federation, Manuel Morais, confirmed the fact and explained that 2020 and 2021 were null years regarding the participations beyond borders, mainly in the last year because of the Covid-19 pandemi.
The official pointed out as immediate consequences in case of removal of athletes from the Ranking, the loss of support from the international institutions in regard to sports material, technicians training, managers and referees.
The ITTF ranking equally includes the Angolan athletes Alessio António from VolBom Portugal club, Elissandro André from Caetano e Filhos club, and Isabel Albino individual player, the three of them trained in a tennis high performance school in China.
Manuel Morais said he is expectant that in the current year it might be possible for Angola to participate at least in two international competitions to escape the punishment from the federation.
In May it will take place the African Junior Tournament in Tanzania, after the African Zone 5 Tournament in South Africa in June. These participations will rely on financial allocation of the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
The federation controls about 386 female and male athletes.
In the current season, the national junior and senior championships have already been played, lacking the national championship by teams, scheduled for the second half of May.
