The Russian attack on the Ukraine also has personal consequences for the European table tennis sport. The Russian Igor Levitin has resigned, at least for the time being, as President of the European association ETTU. The 70-year-old is a close confidant of Vladimir Putin and has been an adviser to the Russian president and his country’s transport minister, among other things. In September 2019 he was elected head of ETTU.
Since the continental federation also decided, following the example of the world federation ITTF, to temporarily no longer allow Russian and Belarusian players and officials at international events, the former world-class player Vladimir Samsonov had to vacate his post as ETTU vice-president. The three-time European champion and World Cup runner-up in 1997, a long-time opponent of Austrian Werner Schlager as an active player, comes from Belarus.