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Former PRWF President, Juan Santana passed away

Mr. Juan Santana, former President of the Puerto Rican Weightlifting Federation has passed away and for this we are all in mourning. He was also NORCECA President for years before Murray Levin and competed as Grand Master well over his 80 years of natural age. He will be remembered as someone being part of our weightlifting history. Our sympathy and condolences goes to his Family and to the Puerto Rican Weightlifting Federation. Source: David Colon Arroyo, General Secretary

IWF teams up with IOC to reinforce fight against illegal betting

IWF has reasserted its commitment to fighting illegal betting, match-fixing and corruption in sport by signing up to the International Olympic Committee (IOC)'s Integrity Betting Intelligence System (IBIS). As an intelligence-sharing digital platform, IBIS will enable the IWF and its Member Federations to access an extensive network of monitoring and data-sharing across sports, event owners and the major sports betting entities. The objectives set out by the IOC through the implementation of IBIS are three-fold: 1. To safeguard sports from the threat connected to illegal sports betting 2. To support international federations and multi-sport event organisers with intelligence and information exchange 3. To create a framework for transparency, confidentiality and trust across all users The IWF joins the seven Olympic winter sports federations and a growing number of Olympic summer sports federations (e.g. BWF, FIBA, FIVB, IRB, ITF, ITTF, UCI) which have already joined IBIS in view of the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro 2016. IOC Sports Director Kit McConnell said: “The IOC applauds IWF for signing up to the IOC’s initiative for clean competitions – the ‘Integrity Betting Intelligence System’ (IBIS). IBIS will be in place not only for the weightlifting competitions at the Olympic and Youth Olympic Games, but also for IWF’s major tournaments.” He added: “IBIS was successfully in operation for the first time during the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi last year with all Olympic Winter IFs taking part in the project. The objective is now to integrate all Olympic Summer IFs in the run-up to the Olympic Games 2016 in Rio.” Attila Ádámfi, IWF Director General said: „The IWF wishes to convey its congratulations to the IOC for this proactive initiative safeguarding sports integrity. As one of the oldest IFs in the Olympic Movement, the IWF supports all cooperation opportunities ensuring a clean environment for athletes. The 2015 IWF World Championships Houston, USA will be the first event implementing the

Thailand Phuket to host the Asian Weightlifting Championships in September

The decision was confirmed to the Thailand Weightlifting Association (TAWA) from the Asian Weightlifting Federation (AWF). The move follows the recent cancellation of the original plan to hold the event in Kathmandu, capital of Nepal. Kathmandu was to host the event - the 26th Asian Championships for women and the 45th for men - in late July. Phuket is set to stage the Championships from September 3 to 12. The AWF thanked TAWA for its fast response and for helping the development of weightlifting sports in Asia, especially after the Nepal natural disaster.

Entries closed for the 2015 Pacific Games

The Entries closed for the Pacific Games as the Pacific Games Council concluded the nomination period for the 28 participating sports. In weightlifting, 78 athletes took part in the Games held in Noumea (50 Men and 28 women), 77 in Samoa (49 Men and 28 Women), 86 in Fiji (55 Men and 31 Women), while the number in Port Moresby will be 172 lifters with 101 Men and 71 Women. This is double the number in the Men and an increase of two and half times in the Women. Numbers are rising rapidly just as the the popularity of the sport in the Oceania region. Weightlifting has 21 countries taking part in these Games that is one more than athletics. The Oceania Senior, Junior and Youth Championships will be held in conjunction with the Pacific Games, and altogether 260 weightlifters have entered the combined