FITEQ donated a teq table at a celebration of Hungarian and Turkish football in Istanbul ©FITEQ

The International Federation of Teqball (FITEQ) has held discussions with the Turkic Council as part of a Hungarian Government visit to Turkey.

Gergely Murányi, the head of corporate social responsibility and diplomatic relations at FITEQ, represented teqball’s governing body.

Murányi attended a celebration of the history of Hungarian and Turkish football in Istanbul, attended by Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Péter Szijjártó, and Baghdad Amreyev, the secretary general of the Turkic Council.

This saw FITEQ donate a teq table to the Council.

The Turkic Council includes five members in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and Uzbekistan, while Hungary holds observer status.

It was established in 2009 and its secretariat is based in Istanbul, seeking to promote cooperation among Turkic states.

FITEQ will present teqball to Sports Ministers of the Turkic Council at a meeting in September ©FITEQ
FITEQ will present teqball to Sports Ministers of the Turkic Council at a meeting in September ©FITEQ

After the football exhibition, Murányi met with Ömer Kocaman, the Turkic Council’s deputy secretary general.

The pair arranged a further FITEQ meeting with the Turkic Council in September, in which representatives will present teqball to Sports Ministers.

Teqball combines elements of football and table tennis, being played on a curved table with players unable to use their arms or hands.

It was invented in Hungary, with FITEQ established as its governing body in 2017.

It will feature at the next Asian Beach Games and 2023 European Games, and FITEQ holds ambitions for eventual inclusion at the Summer Olympics.