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IWF’s strong stance against doping in weightlifting

The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) wholeheartedly welcomes the recent decision from the Anti-Doping Division of the Court of Arbitration (CAS ADD) regarding Kazakh weightlifter, Nijat Rahimov. He was found to have committed several Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) in 2016 and has now been sanctioned for a period of ineligibility of eight years and all competitive results since 15 March 2016 have been disqualified. Furthermore, the IWF would like to stress its unequivocal commitment to tackling doping and the use of prohibited substances and methods in weightlifting.While there have been mistakes made in the past, which the IWF acknowledges, the organisation has taken strong and decisive steps to ensure that the situation in weightlifting has dramatically improved. Since 2019, the IWF has delegated its entire anti-doping program to the International Testing Agency (ITA) making it entirely independent of the IWF. In its scope, the ITA performs more than 2300 doping tests per year in weightlifting for the IWF.This week the International Testing Agency (ITA) confirmed to the IWF that regarding the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 there have been no positive tests in weightlifting so far.“Sadly, in the past, we had a culture of doping. The IWF Executive Board recognises this problem and over the last three years we have invested millions of dollars into our anti-doping testing and clean sport development to ensure that weightlifting is clean. We do not accept any form of doping in our sport, and we are doing everything we can to chase dopers out.  They are not welcome in the sport.” remarked IWF Interim President Dr. Michael Irani.IWF General Secretary Mohammed Jaloud added: “We have worked tirelessly to introduce and maintain full compliance with the World Anti-Doping Code for weightlifting, culminating in the fact that at the Olympic Games in Tokyo we had zero doping cases. We are very proud of this; it is our new standard, and we will continue to fight to keep our sport clean so athletes can be sure that when they compete against others it’s a level playing field.”In July 2019, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) performed a complete audit on the IWF’s anti-doping program. WADA has confirmed that IWF is fully compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code and its standards. Furthermore, the ITA also confirmed that since the delegation of the IWF anti-doping program to the ITA, considerable effort has been made to maintain IWF’s compliance with the World Anti-Doping Code by implementing strong anti-doping processes and policies and reforming IWF’s anti-doping bodies (eg the Independent Member Federation Sanctioning Panel, IWF Anti-Doping Commission and Independent Monitoring Group).“We have come a long way from the terrible doping problems we faced in our sport but we cannot be complacent, we must continue the improvement in our anti-doping program and remain vigilant to ensure that athletes can be happy to compete in our competitions drug free” concluded Jaloud.For any question or to get more information about the IWF’s commitment to clean sport please

Hosting opportunity: 2022 IWF World Championships

After careful consideration due to the current COVID-19 situation in China, Chinese Weightlifting Association (CWA) have had to re-evaluate China’s ability to host the upcoming 2022 IWF World Championships.Given the much stricter COVID-19 prevention and control rules being implemented, which would mandate that all teams and officials would have to carry out a 21-day quarantine, CWA considered that it is no longer viable for the 2022 IWF World Championships to be delivered to the standard of the IWF requirements.Therefore, after careful evaluation, it is with regret that the CWA has had to withdraw from hosting this year.“After thoughtful consideration, it is with great regret that we are not able to meet all the IWF requirements to organize the 2022 IWF World Championships this year. We are committed to our sport and would like to assure the IWF family that as soon as the situation permits, we are more than happy to host a future World Championships and IWF events as we have done in the past.” CWA wrote in the letter sent to IWF.“The Chinese Weightlifting Association has been a great partner, together we have been working hard for over two years to deliver the World Championships in China this year. However, unfortunately the pandemic is still with us and we must do what is best for our sport and our athletes. We thank the Chinese Weightlifting Association for all their efforts and look forward to returning to China another time.” said IWF Interim President Dr. Michael Irani.China was the leading nation in weightlifting at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, winning seven gold medals and one silver.The IWF Executive Board is working to find a replacement host. More information will be available shortly. Any Member Federation interested in hosting the IWF Senior World Championships this year will have 15 days to provide a letter of intent to the IWF. All letters can be sent

2022 IWF Development Program

IWF is happy to announce that from 17th March 2022 the application within 2022 IWF Development Program is open for Member and Regional Federations. The deadline to submit applications is 6th April 2022. All the documents, including application form and the guidelines can be found here. Note that the mandatory documents to be submitted are: The application form duly signed and the global survey. For any assistance, please contact: [email protected]

IWF STATEMENT

The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) is deeply distressed by the situation in Ukraine and condemns the invasion by Russia on the state of Ukraine. The safety and well-being of all those in unrest are in our thoughts.As part of the Olympic family, we are united in the mission of the Olympic Movement to contribute to peace and unite the world in peaceful competition. IWF is striving to develop and promote weightlifting in the spirit of the Olympic Charter and is aligned with the Olympic values. Therefore, we strongly support the International Olympic Committee’s recommendations in response to the current crisis.As such, the IWF Executive Board met to discuss the evolving situation and has taken the decision to suspend the participation of all athletes, team officials and technical officials from Russia and Belarus from any international or continental weightlifting event until further notice. In addition, and also until further notice, no IWF sanctioned events will be organized in these countries. These exceptional measures were decided and issued in view of the extraordinary circumstances arising in Ukraine. They constitute preventive measures aiming at preserving the integrity of sport, the relationships between our members and between all the participants. They are also aimed at protecting the safety of all participants, including in particular the participants from the two above mentioned countries. The IWF Executive Board will continue to closely monitor the evolution of the situation. The above exceptional measures may be adapted, and hopefully eventually lifted, when and if the situation will so justify.The IWF Executive Board has further approved funding to support Ukrainian athletes during this trying time. The IWF Secretary General Mr. Mohammed Jaloud is currently in contact with the Ukrainian Weightlifting Federation to ensure that financial and training support will be provided to athletes preparing for the Youth, Junior and World Championships. In addition, the IWF will work with the UWF to rebuild any facilities that may have been impacted.   The IWF stands with the International Olympic Committee, the Ukrainian Olympic community and the Ukrainian Weightlifting family and are committed to providing any additional humanitarian assistance necessary. On behalf of the weightlifting community, the IWF hopes that peace will be restored at the

2022 IWF Electoral Congress – Candidature Documents

Dear Candidates, As you may have been aware, on 19 December 2021 IWF Executive Board approved the new dates of the 2022 IWF Electoral Congress as 25-26 June 2022, along with further constitutional amendments which have been approved on 30 January 2022 at the IWF Special Congress to ensure full compliance with the IWF Constitution. For this reason now we are inviting all candidates to submit their nomination forms and all related documents until 5:00 PM CET in Lausanne, Switzerland on 27 March 2022. Please note that in line with the IWF Constitution, candidates are required to submit their candidature forms together with all supporting documents (including the other documents which can be downloaded from here see below as well and further documents to be provided by the candidates) via e-mail to [email protected] until 5:00 PM CET in Lausanne, Switzerland on 27 March 2022. The Eligibility Determination Panel (EDP) will thereafter review all duly and timely submitted applications. The EDP will issue its determinations on the eligibility of the Candidates as per Schedule 11 of the IWF Constitution. The documents to be submitted to the IWF are without limitation the following: IWF Candidature Form specifying which positions the candidate is submitting his/her candidature for;  A properly filled out and signed Declaration form;  Signed Consent and Waiver form. Explanation to the documents to be provided in support of the Declaration form The documents provided by the Candidates as set forth in the Declaration form shall evidence that the candidates meets the criteria in connection with which they are provided. A single document may be able to evidence that more than one criteria is being met. Please specify which document is being submitted to evidence which criterion or set of criteria. (eg.: Criminal Records are evidence in respect of the criteria set forth under e & f in the Declaration Form) Please note that negative inference can be drawn from the failure of a candidate to provide relevant documents. Examples of documents to be provided: Not bankrupt. Bankruptcy / Insolvency or debt enforcement records from country/ies of residence within the last five years  Not a mentally incapacitated person. Letter from a medical or other relevant professional attesting to capacity  Not been convicted of an offence punishable by 4 years of imprisonment or greater. Criminal, Police, or Tribunal Record from country/ies of residence within the last five years  Not been charged/convicted of any offence relating to a child/minor. Criminal, Police or Tribunal Record from country/ies of residence within the last five years  Not been disqualified or banned from being a director of a corporation within last 5 years. Search result / record from Corporations Register from country/ies of residence within the last five years In case the Candidate is unable to submit a particular document, the reasons therefore shall be explained and  the EDP shall duly consider these reasons during its eligibility determination procedure. It is the responsibility of the Candidates to establish to the EDP’s satisfaction that they fulfill the eligibility criteria and that they have provided all available or reasonably obtainable elements of evidence. Negative inference can be drawn from the failure to provide relevant evidence. Please note that date of the original documents submitted shall not be older than 21st June 2021. Provided they fulfill that condition, documents submitted in support of a previous submission may be used. In that case, it must be submitted in copy, with the indication of the submission and the date thereof in connection with which it was filed in original. The copy must further be signed and dated (date of copy). Independent Verification The EDP can conduct its own independent verification in respect of any criteria. You are required to cooperate with the Panel and in particular to respond proactively to the EDP or an independent investigator appointed by the EDP. Please note that negative inference can be drawn from the failure to cooperate. The EDP will specifically be independently verifying eligibility criteria including without limitation the  following: Not being an employee of the IWF; Not currently serving any period of ineligibility longer than 12 months; No anti-doping rule violation found proven in the last 25 years. Accordingly, you are not required to submit evidence in relation to the above three criteria. Certification /translation The evidence submitted must either be an original document (scanned) or certified as a true copy  of the original. Documents must be provided in their original language accompanied by a proper English translation. The Commission reserves the right to request certified translations in circumstances in which the Commission determines adequate. Information/clarification request In case you have further questions related to the procedure or the required documents please contact the IWF Secretariat via e-mail at [email protected] Such requests shall be made by e-mail as soon as possible and at the latest on 17 March 2022 17:00 PM

PUBLIC DISCLOSURE

The ITA reports that it has asserted ADRVs against the following Russian weightlifters under Article 2.2 (Use or Attempted Use by an Athlete of a Prohibited Substance or a Prohibited Method) of the IWF Anti-Doping Rules (IWF ADR) – Aleksandr Ivanov Dmitry Klokov Svetlana Tzarukaeva Natalya Zabolotnaya Olga Zubova Apti Aukhadov The assertions are based on investigations conducted by WADA’s Intelligence and Investigation Department (WADA I&I) and by Professor Richard McLaren into allegations of systemic doping practices in Russian sport as well as Moscow Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) data retrieved by WADA I&I over time. The evidence was provided by WADA I&I to the ITA in 2021 for further assessment. In particular, these investigations uncovered LIMS data indicative of the presence of banned substances in samples provided by the athletes in 2012 and 2013. The athletes have been informed of the cases and have been provisionally suspended until the resolution of the matter. Pursuant to the IWF’s delegation of its anti-doping program to the ITA, the prosecution of the cases is being handled entirely by the ITA. Given that the cases are underway, there will be no further comments during the ongoing