Vladimir Samsonov has joined the ITTF Executive Committee ©Wikipedia

Vladimir Samsonov has joined the ruling Executive Committee of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) following a major change in the world governing body's constitution.

The ITTF Annual Meeting in Kuala Lumpur agreed that the chairman of the ITTF Athletes' Commission should become a full member of the organisation's Executive Committee.

Until now, the Athletes' Commission were represented with voting rights on the ITTF's Board of Directors but did not have the same right on the Executive Committee. 

Following the decision, Samsonov joined the Executive Committee. 

The decision to giving the chairman of the ITTF Athletes' Commission full voting right was taken at the organisation's Annual Meeting in Kuala Lumpur ©ITTF
The decision to giving the chairman of the ITTF Athletes' Commission full voting right was taken at the organisation's Annual Meeting in Kuala Lumpur ©ITTF

The 39-year-old Belarusian is one of the sport's most popular players.

He is best known for being a top-10 player longer than anyone else in official ranking history apart from Sweden's Jan-Ove Waldner.

Samsonov first joined the top-10 in 1996, then climbed to the top position in 1998.

He stayed in the top-10 for 15 years until November 2011.

Samsonov's most recent notable success was winning the silver medal at last year's inaugural European Games in Baku.