Akram Ben Attia Makes History As First Gold Badge Umpire From Africa
After receiving the umpire gold badge from the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) earlier this week, Tunisian table tennis official Akram Ben Attia has made history.
Particularly at the just completed World Team Table Tennis Championships in Chengdu, China, and the ongoing WTT Cup finals in Xinxiang, China, Ben Attia has excelled when officiating matches.
The umpire, who is based in France, recently acquired his gold badge, making him the first African umpire to accomplish the remarkable feat.
In 2020, the Gold Badge was introduced to recognize highly skilled international umpires who have held a Blue Badge for at least two years.
The ITTF-Africa acknowledged Ben Attia‘s accomplishment on Friday to honor a top representation of the region.
“Akram Ben Attia has earned an ITTF umpire GOLD badge.”
It continued: “The Tunisian umpire has shown his outstanding officiating on the highest level especially in the men’s team final of the World Team Table tennis Championships in Chengdu and currently at the WTT Cup finals in Xinxiang this month, as well as at other WTT competition.”
“Ben Attia becomes the first African umpire to be addressed with the Gold Badge since it was created in 2020 to identify highly qualified International
“Umpires who have been Blue Badge umpires for at least two years,” the post read.
