The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) has made only limited progress in the reform process following allegations of corruption and doping and still faces the threat of being excluded from the 2024 Olympic Games program.
Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said the IOC Executive Board had heard reports from weightlifting officials, noting that there was some progress on anti-doping efforts, but also “many open issues” related to World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) inspections.
He also called the governance reform efforts so far “ambiguous” because no changes had been made to the IWF’s board, except for the resignation of long-serving President Tamaz Ayan after the charges in April.
Already last month, the IOC expressed concern about the replacement of the organisation’s interim president, Urzula Papandreas, with Intarat Jodbangtoey, who was also accused of corruption in a WADA report. British Mike Irani is now the interim president of the IWF.
“The IOC Executive Board reaffirmed the position that we need to decide on our position on the presence of weightlifting at the 2024 Games in Paris, assessing governance reforms, the Tokyo Olympics, the facts of whether we finally have a non-doping weightlifting competition and the results of the WADA investigation.” problems in the weightlifting field are indicated by the IOC president.
Bach promises that the IOC will keep a close eye on what is happening and will pay more attention to the success of the sport at next year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo.
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