News

The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Executive Board (EB) met in Bogota to discuss and approve a number of key proposals across anti-doping, governance and the Constitution for submission tomorrow to the IWF Special Congress.

The EB received a presentation from the International Testing Agency (ITA) and IWF Anti-Doping Commission (ADC), which have been working hard since the last EB meeting in Rome to refine their proposals on how to further enhance the IWF’s anti-doping programme. The IWF EB approved the ITA’s proposal to expand its investigative powers and to introduce mandatory education requirements to ensure that that athletes and ASP under the scope of IWF are educated to reduce the risk of inadvertent Anti-Doping Rule Violations.

In addition, new obligations on the IWF Member Federations introducing minimum testing requirements as an eligibility condition for athletes to take part in the main IWF competitions were approved. The IWF, the IWF ADC and the ITA will now work hand in hand to ensure a smooth implementation of the new testing regime that is planned to enter into force at the latest by 1 January 2024. The Member Federations will be notified in due time of the exact starting date of the testing eligibility system. Finally, the EB mandated the IWF Administration to discuss the resources needed to support the implementation of the necessary changes to the Anti-Doping Rules.

The approved changes build on the IWF’s commitment to protecting clean athletes which underpinned the updated Olympic Qualification System (QS) for the Olympic Games Paris 2024. IF Delegate for Paris 2024 and EB member Matthew Curtain informed the EB that the QS has been approved by the IWF Athletes’ Commission since the last meeting and has been submitted to the IOC for final approval.

The EB discussed the development of the new IWF Constitution which will be delivered by July next year with the EB set to create a Working Group to drive its creation.

The EB has discussed and agreed that weightlifting, as an inclusive sport shall provide equal opportunities for everybody who intends to practice sport. By promoting the Olympic values of friendship, respect and fair-play, Refugee Athletes shall have formal opportunities to exercise weightlifting globally and participate at IWF Events. In line with the IOC Refugee Olympic Team, the EB agreed to establish the IWF Refugee Athlete Policy, to be elaborated by Q2 in 2023. Florian Sperl (GER), IWF Executive Board member has been appointed as IWF Refugee Liaison Officer.

IWF President Mohammed Jalood said:

“We have a very important couple of weeks for weightlifting ahead of us; first with our IWF Special Congress tomorrow and then our IWF World Championships – the first ever hosted in Colombia. It is the IWF Executive Board’s responsibility to ensure we are serving our Member Federations and our athletes to the best of our ability and today’s meeting demonstrated our commitment to doing exactly that. We made further enhancements to our anti-doping programme with our external partners, the ITA, and discussed the development of our new Constitution and strengthening of our governance. These proposals and initiatives will be presented to the Congress where the IWF family will have the opportunity to contribute to shaping the future of our sport.”

IWF Athletes’ Commission Chair Forrester Osei gave an update on the upcoming Athlete Commission elections which will take place during the World Championships on 5-16 December and a proposal for a pilot project to support athletes in preparations for Paris 2024.

The EB approved the report of the Technical Committee and the new Technical and Competition Rules and Regulations coming into force on 5 December for the World Championships.