As the coronavirus pandemic wreaks havoc on the sporting world, paychecks for those in the industry has emerged as a problem. During a video conference on Wednesday, all staff with the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) agreed to take voluntary salary reductions in 2020, a gesture which demonstrates the body's unity during these challenging times.

The salary cut also applies to ITTF President Thomas Weikert.

On March 29, 2020, the ITTF announced the suspension of all international table tennis events until 30 June 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. They include the 2020 World Team Table Tennis Championships in Busan in late June as well as the 2020 ITTF World Tour events such as Hong Kong and China Opens in the middle of May.

Other than voluntary salary reductions from staff, the knock-on financial effect of an extended period of not hosting events has also led to the ITTF Executive Committee to reduce its expenses, while exploring ways to work with various governments to minimize the financial impact.

These initial measures were put in place also to ensure the table tennis world will be stronger after its new entity—World Table Tennis (WTT) takes over to manage all of the ITTF's commercial and events business, starting 2021.