News

Another Successful Opening for the Oceania’s Premier League

For the second year running, the Oceania Weightlifting Federation has started its Online League Tournament with the opening round on the first weekend of June. The League, which resemble football, are being held online, not only in response to the pandemic but for convenience and accessibility’s sake. The idea for this League Tournament format came from the OWF’s General Secretary Paul Coffa, who explains: “It was implemented last year (2020) due to the fact that all competitions in our region were cancelled because of the pandemic. The only way that I could get the region to compete was to initiate an online tournament “. Different countries connect once a month to lift together and many have seen this initiative as a way to boost that competitive spirit that has been on pause due to the pandemic. “Last year we had nine rounds with nineteen countries competing.  We also had prize money given by the Australian Federation with the first prize being $10,000” Coffa says. The only difference between this year's League and last year's is that this time, the Oceania Weightlifting Federation has decided to separate the League into three groups. This modification has come about after seeing how some countries participated more than others, with some struggling to find enough weightlifters. This way, the Premier League has eight countries, each represented by a total of 16 lifters made up of 8 men and 8 women. There are eight rounds and competitions take place once a month. League A features teams with limited numbers. Seven selected countries each compete with a total of 8 lifters made up of 4 men and 4 women, participating every month. And finally, countries with fewer representatives will also have a place in the competition and they are registered in League B. This third group will begin lifting on the 3rd of July with five teams comprising of 4 lifters each team. That is 2 men and 2 women. They will have seven rounds of competition. “After the enormous success of this League tournament last year, all the member countries were looking forward to this year again” the Oceanic General Secretary says. The first weekend was very well supported. It was held on June the 4th & 5th and more than 170 weightlifters competed in the AUD$80,000 League Tournament. The first round produced some world class performances, particularly from the Samoan team. First Round Highlights The Premier League saw lifters from Australia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Samoa taking part. Sanele Mao from Samoa registered a 406kg total, and Don Opeloge in the 96kg body weight category, 391kg. The Samoans had been training extremely hard leading up to this first round. One of the highlights of the Samoan team was 19-year-old John Tafi in the 67kg category totaling a massive 306kg and defeating for the first time his Samoan teammate Nevo Ioane who totaled his best ever, 303kg. Samoa defeated Australia by 371.40kg. There was also a great battle between New Zealand and the young team from Nauru. Some outstanding performances from both teams took place, with New Zealand winning in the end by a mere 17.58kg. Team Kiribati defeated an incredibly young team from Papua New Guinea by 430.60kg. Papua New Guinea entered many new recruits in this first round and could not overcome the strength of the Kiribati team. The Solomon Islands and Fiji match was a close battle with the Solomon Islands coming out as winners by 112.68kg. It was also nice to see the return of Fiji lifter Apolonia Vaivai. League A also kicked off at the same time as the Premier League with seven countries competing against each other, this time Guam, Cook Islands, Marshall Islands, Northern Marianas, New Caledonia, Tonga and Tahiti, with Marshall Islands having a bye in the first round. There were some real promising results in League A. Tahiti for the first time competing with a full team, produced some excellent results from new lifters which Oceania has not seen before. They defeated CNMI (Northern Marianas) by 141Kg. This first round also saw some new names coming from the Northern Marianas, and will be a great start for them in preparation for the Mini Pacific Games to be held in Saipan next year in June. There was another great battle between Guam and New Caledonia. Guam in the end came out as winners but both teams produced some amazing results. Cook Islands competed for the first time as a team in the League A tournament. There were some great results but unfortunately Tonga did not enter a team for this round and therefore Cook Islands took full points. According to Mr Coffa, this initiative works thanks to a great internal organization with its own process “The Leagues are organised by the OWF, and each country runs its competition each month from their federations.  The results are then sent to me, I collate all data within 48 hours from the time the competition finishes and then I disseminate to everyone in the region”. Oceanic weightlifters are preparing again for the second round of competitions that will be taking place on the first weekend of July, which will include League B. The OWF is also getting ready for its 2021 OWF ONLINE CUP scheduled for June 26th & 27th, which will be another competition held online and likely a success, with 45 lifters from 12 Oceanic countries competing for the

Suspension of TAWA Athletes lifted in accordance with the decision of the Independent Monitoring Group

In its award of 8 April 2021, the CAS had decided that TAWA athletes would not be allowed to participate in IWF events until 18 June 2021, or an earlier date subject to TAWA satisfying a number of conditions. The matter was considered by the Independent Monitoring Group, which yesterday found that these conditions were satisfied and therefore lifted the suspension on TAWA athletes with immediate effect. However, no TAWA athletes will participate in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 as a result of the CAS award. The suspension had effectively been in place since 2019, following a number of anti-doping rule violations stemming from 2018. One Thai weightlifter at the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games tested positive for exogenous testosterone in October and nine tested positive for exogenous testosterone at the IWF World Weightlifting Championships in November of 2018. Twenty targeted tests conducted at a training camp in October 2018 returned no fewer than fifteen adverse analytical findings. TAWA itself remains suspended until 1 April 2023. TAWA’s suspension can be lifted as early as 7 March 2022, provided a number of conditions are met as set out in the CAS award. These include the education of TAWA athletes, support personnel and officials at a level which complies with the WADA International Standard for

ROMANIAN WEIGHTLIFTING FEDERATION SUSPENDED UPON REFERRAL BY THE ITA

The International Testing Agency (ITA) confirms that the International Weightlifting Federations’ (IWF’s) Member Federation Independent Sanctioning Panel has imposed a one-year suspension against the Romanian Weightlifting Federation as a consequence of numerous Anti-Doping Rule Violations. Following its initial announcement about the referral of the case, the ITA has been informed by the IWF’s Member Federation Independent Sanctioning Panel (Independent Panel) that it has decided to impose a one-year suspension against the Federatia Romana de Haltere (FRH) as a consequence of multiple Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) committed by member athletes of the FRH. According to the IWF Anti-Doping Rules (ADR, Article 12), Member Federations can be suspended, fined and/or have other privileges withdrawn when the athletes, officials or athlete support personnel (ASP) of the Member Federation are found to have committed ADRVs. The FRH’s case is grounded on five ADRVs that were committed in 2012 by five different Athletes. The five ADRVs were for the presence of anabolic steroids detected in the athletes’ samples. Four of the ADRVs were in fact from the four athletes representing the FRH at the Olympic Games London 2012, namely Florin Croitoru, Gabriel Sincraian, Razvan Martin and Roxana Cocos. The Adverse Analytical Findings (AAFs) were only reported in 2019 as part of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC’s) re-analysis program, carried out by the ITA. After holding a hearing in the presence of the FRH and the ITA and reviewing the written submissions of the parties, the Independent Panel made the following findings: -        The FRH has committed a breach of Articles 12.3.1 and 12.4 of the IWF ADR; -        The FRH is suspended from participating in any activities for a period of one year, starting on the date of the decision (i.e. 15 June 2021). This suspension includes: The right to participate at IWF Events with athletes and technical officials; The right to organize IWF Events, IWF Congress, IWF Executive Board meetings, meetings of IWF Commissions and Committees; The right to participate in the Congress with voting rights; The right to submit proposals for inclusion in the Agenda of the Congress; The right to take part in and benefit from the IWF Development program apart from education and anti-doping seminars; and The right to submit proposals if any for modification of the IWF Constitution, Technical and Competition Rules & Regulations whenever requested. -        The suspension can be conditionally lifted eight months after it was issued (i.e. on 15 February 2022), provided that the FRH fulfills the following criteria set out as a partial conditional reinstatement of its suspended rights: -        FRH ensures that FRH ASP, such as coaches, and officials of the FRH in contact with athletes, have never committed anti-doping rule violations or acts that would amount to ADRVs but were not sanctioned for some reason; ergo, FRH is to remove from their FRH functions any ASP who have trained more than three athletes who have committed ADRVs in the past ten years; -        No FRH athletes, ASP or officials receive notice of an AAF for a prohibited method or a prohibited substance that is neither a ‘Specified Substance’ nor a ‘Substance of Abuse’ or notice regarding Articles 2.2, 2.3, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, 2.9 2.10 or 2.11 of the IWF ADR from now on and until the end of the sanction imposed by the Panel[1]; -        FRH ensures that its Registered Testing Pool athletes – not the FRH on their behalf – submit accurate, complete and timely whereabouts filings including accurate phone number and individualized email addresses for each athlete in ADAMS; -        FRH ensures that it shares the dates and locations of training camps of the national team’s athletes with the ITA on a timely basis; -        FRH makes its athletes and ASP available for an interview with the ITA, upon the ITA’s simple request; -        The FRH leadership accept public responsibility to change the culture of doping in Romanian weightlifting; -        FRH makes its athletes and ASP aware of the ITA’s confidential reporting platform ‘Reveal’, the FRH posts a link on its website to the platform, and the FRH athletes and ASP download the ITA’s Reveal reporting app (once available); -        FRH ensures that its athletes and ASP attend one anti-doping education session hosted by the ITA (in Romanian) within the next six months and to bear the ITA’s related costs and the costs of ensuring that the athletes and ASP are available, if any; -        FRH is to pay a 50’000 USD fine to the IWF by 1 October 2021 as a contribution to the IWF’s enhanced anti-doping activities, in accordance with a payment plan to be discussed and agreed upon between the parties; The decision can be found here. The sanction imposed against the FRH is consistent with the so-called “Tbilisi Decision”, where in 2016, further to the re-analysis program of samples collected during the Olympic Games Beijing 2008 and London 2012, the IWF decided that Member Federations confirmed to have produced three or more ADRVs in the combined re-analysis programme of the Beijing and London Games would be suspended for a one-year period. The Member Federations of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine have been sanctioned in accordance with the Tbilisi decision in the past years. The Independent Sanction Panel Decision may be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The ITA will not provide any further comments. Source:ITA [1] The Independent Panel clarified that only the ADRVs that would be committed after the issuance of the decision and not ADRVs committed prior to same but that would be notified only after the issuance of the decision, would be taken into

ITA REFERS WEIGHTLIFTING FEDERATION OF COLOMBIA TO BE SANCTIONED BY INDEPENDENT PANEL DUE TO MULTIPLE ADRVs

The International Testing Agency (ITA) asks the International Weightlifting Federations’ (IWF’s) Independent Panel to impose sanctions on the Federación Colombiana de Levantamiento de Pesas under the IWF Anti-Doping Rules and the IWF Qualification System for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, as a consequence of numerous Anti-Doping Rule Violations. The ITA has informed the Federación Colombiana de Levantamiento de Pesa (FCLP) that its case was being referred to the IWF’s Independent Member Federation Sanctioning Panel (Independent Panel) to impose sanctions against the FCLP under Article 12 of the IWF Anti-Doping Rules (IWF ADR) and the IWF Qualification System for the Games of the XXXII Olympiad Tokyo 2020 (IWF OQS) as a consequence of multiple Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) committed by three member athletes of the FCLP. As per Article 12 of the IWF ADR and Article 4 of the IWF OQS if three or more ADRVs are committed by athletes affiliated to the same member federation during a calendar year and/or during the qualification period of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, the Independent Panel may impose sanctions, including the suspension of the member federation and/or the imposition of a fine on the member federation and/or the withdrawal of quota place(s) with regard to the Tokyo Games. The case against the FCLP concerns three athletes, namely Ana Segura, Yenny Sinisterra and Juan Felipe Arboleda. On 20 January 2020, all three athletes tested positive for the prohibited steroid Boldenone and metabolite. The athletes alleged that the source of the prohibited substance was the consumption of meat contaminated with boldenone, whilst at a training camp in Colombia. Pursuant to the Anti-Doping Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS ADD) award of 10 June 2021, where the ITA represented the IWF, the athletes were found to have committed ADRVs under Article 2.1 of the IWF ADR and were sanctioned with a period of ineligibility of 4 years from 24 February 2020 to 23 February 2023. CAS ADD did not accept that the prohibited substances came from meat contamination. The athletes have a right to appeal the decision before the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Given that the case is underway, the ITA will not comment further during the ongoing proceedings. Source:

CRC Webinar Series – First Webinar

IWF Coaching and Research Committee is organizing a webinar series from which the first webinar will take place on 11th June 2021 at 3PM CEST. The webinar will be held on Zoom and can also be followed at the IWF YouTube Channel during and after the webinar. The webinar will contain the following topics: Q&A session with Tokyo OG Sport Manager & Athletes by Ms. Reiko Chinen Athlete psychology in training by Mr. Aveenash Pandoo Youth Training by Dr. Kyle Pierce Moderator Mahmoud Mahgoub - IWF Executive Board Member, IWF CRC Chair Karoliina Lundahl – IWF Executive Board Member, IWF Women’s Commission Chair, IWF CRC Deputy Chair Panel IWF CRC Members You can find the link to register

29 refugee athletes to send a message of solidarity and hope to the world at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020

Twenty-nine athletes competing across 12 sports and from 13 host National Olympic Committees (NOCs) will be part of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team (EOR) Tokyo 2020. The Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) today approved the composition of the team. The athletes were selected from among the refugee athletes currently supported by the IOC through the Olympic Scholarships for Refugee Athletes programme. They will send a powerful message of solidarity and hope to the world this summer, bringing further awareness to the plight of over 80 million displaced people worldwide. The 29 athletes met for the first time today in a virtual ceremony during which IOC President Thomas Bach officially announced their participation in the Games in Tokyo this summer. The list of athletes can be found here. Addressing the athletes, the IOC President said: “Congratulations to all of you. I speak on behalf of the entire Olympic Movement when I say that we cannot wait to meet you in person and to see you compete in Tokyo. When you, the IOC Refugee Olympic Team and the athletes from the National Olympic Committees from all over the globe, finally come together in Tokyo on 23 July, it will send a powerful message of solidarity, resilience and hope to the world. You are an integral part of our Olympic community, and we welcome you with open arms.” UNHCR High Commissioner Filippo Grandi congratulated the athletes, saying: “I am thrilled to congratulate each of the athletes who have been named in the Refugee Olympic Team Tokyo 2020. They are an exceptional group of people who inspire the world. UNHCR is incredibly proud to support them as they compete at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Surviving war, persecution and the anxiety of exile already makes them extraordinary people, but the fact that they now also excel as athletes on the world stage fills me with immense pride. It shows what is possible when refugees are given the opportunity to make the most of their potential” The team will compete under the Olympic flag. At the Opening Ceremony on 23 July, the athletes will enter the stadium in second position immediately after Greece, sending a strong message of inclusion, and showing the world the strength of the human spirit. Spotlight on the IOC Refugee Olympic Team Tokyo 2020 The selection of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team Tokyo 2020 was based on a number of criteria including, first and foremost, each athlete’s sporting performance and their refugee status as confirmed by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Personal background, as well as a balanced representativity in terms of sport, gender and regions, were also considered. Like all teams at the Olympic Games, the IOC Refugee Olympic Team will have its own entourage to meet all the required technical needs of the athletes. Olympian and former marathon world record-holder Tegla Loroupe will be the team’s Chef de Mission, reprising her role from the Olympic Games Rio 2016, while Stephen Pattison from UNHCR and Olivier Niamkey from the IOC will act as the Deputy Chefs de Mission. They will lead a delegation of 20 coaches and team officials, while Olympic Solidarity will cover travel and all other participation expenses for the team. The full EOR* delegation will meet for the first time as a team at the Aspire Academy in Doha (Qatar) on 12 and 13 July for their Welcome Experience, before flying to Japan on 14 July. During the Games, the team will be hosted by Waseda University, which will provide accommodation and training facilities, before the athletes move to the Olympic Village for their respective competitions. Both of these training camps have been made possible due to the support of the NOCs of Qatar and Japan. (...) Source: