Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
For Quick Alerts
ALLOW NOTIFICATIONS  
For Daily Alerts

International Weightlifting Federation chief stands aside for corruption probe

The decision for Ajan to stand aside was made at an extraordinary meeting of the IWF executive board in Doha, Qatar that lasted 13 hours.

Tamas Ajan

Bengaluru, January, 23: International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) President Tamas Ajan of Hungary agreed to relinquish his post for a period of 90 days pending independent investigations into allegations of corruption and doping violations.

The decision was was made at an emergency extraordinary meeting of the IWF executive board in Doha, Qatar that lasted for almost 13 hours.

American Ursula Papandrea, president of USA Weightlifting, will serve as IWF's acting president until April, when Ajan hopes to return.

The 81-year-old had been criticised by members of the board after a recent documentary, made by the German state broadcaster ARD, included allegations of corruption in the sport over many years.

The IWF denied the allegations and Ajan said the documentary, which focused on him and was titled Secret Doping - The Lord of the Lifters, had "ruined my life and 50 years of my work".

The IWF said it has set up a new commission to recommend independent experts who will investigate claims of financial impropriety, and corruption in anti-doping procedures, which were raised in the documentary.

Ajan, who has been at the IWF since 1976 serving 24 years as general secretary and the past 20 as president, claimed the documentary's allegations were unfounded.

"They aren't supported by the relevant documentation or by people involved in the relevant decisions," he said.

"Consequently, I've no doubt that external experts will vindicate my commitment of nearly 50 years to develop the sport of weightlifting.

"Weightlifting has always been bigger than one man, and I'm happy to have Ursula acting by my side me in a presidential capacity," he added.

Weightlifting has had problems with doping for decades, and recently overhauled its anti-doping programme.

Its place in the Olympic Games was questioned when Bulgaria's weightlifting team was sent home from the Seoul 1988 Games because of doping. Bulgaria was also sent home in disgrace from Sydney 2000 and was banned from Rio de Janeiro 2016, as was Russia.

The International Olympic Committee's (IOC) retests of stored samples from the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Games have so far produced 60 positives by weightlifters, by far the most of all Olympic sports.

(With inputs from Agencies)

Story first published: Thursday, January 23, 2020, 15:00 [IST]
Other articles published on Jan 23, 2020