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IWF Executive Board unanimously approves recommendations of Clean Sport and Sports Programme Commissions

25 November 2017; Anaheim, USA: The IWF Executive Board (EB) today unanimously approved the recommendations of the Clean Sport and Sports Programme Commissions and pledged to implement them all in order to ensure the protection of clean lifters and the attractiveness of the sport at the Olympic Games.

The independent Clean Sport Commission has held a number of meetings this year and following an extensive analysis of the anti-doping efforts in weightlifting over the last 10 years, presented its innovative and pioneering recommendations to the EB. The Commission determined that while significant improvements have been made in the IWF Weightlifting Programme since London 2012 there is scope to do a lot more work to combat doping. Of particular importance is the need for the IWF to combat doping in less than a dozen high risk countries where there is an entrenched culture of doping which also goes beyond weightlifting.

Key recommendations of the Commission include:

  • Contracting with the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport and collaborating with the International Association of National Anti-Doping Organizations and WADA to develop increased and more effective no notice out-of-competition testing in high risk countries
  • Implementation of new rules in the IWF Anti-Doping Policy which send a clear deterrent message to IWF member federations that if they do not fulfil their anti-doping responsibilities to ensure that their athletes are clean, then they will lose their right to participate in international competition for a period up to four years.
  • A requirement for athletes in in the IWF Registered Testing Pool and other national team athletes to provide IWF with an updated list of their coaches and other athlete support personnel
  • Enhanced anti-doping education devised in collaboration with WADA and International Association of National Anti-Doping Organizations

All the recommendations were approved by the EB and will form the basis of the IWF’s submission to the IOC Executive Board’s meeting this December. The IWF EB also approved the Clean Sport Commission staying engaged for an additional four year period in order to consult with the IWF as it progresses with the implementation of the recommendations. The Commission will also review and evaluate the progress of the IWF’s execution on an annual basis.

Speaking following the first day of the IWF EB meeting, IWF President Ajan said:

“Today marks the start of a new chapter for international weightlifting. We accept that in the past the incidence of doping in weightlifting has been too high and we had already moved aggressively to combat this. But with the excellent recommendations that we have approved today, we have a clear strategic plan for how to address this incidence and ensure that we move forward towards a cleaner future.”

The IWF EB also approved the recommendations of the IWF Sport Programme Commission designed to protect the integrity of the sport and ensure the very best, clean weightlifting competitions at Tokyo 2020. One of the key recommendations was the shortening of the qualification period and an obligation for athletes to compete a minimum number of times, at certain intervals, to ensure athletes will be regularly subjected to in-competition doping controls. The other major recommendation was the switch from team to individual qualification allowing an easier traceability of the athletes.

In addition to the reports of the Clean Sport and Sport Programme Commission, the IWF EB also heard reports from the Technical Committee, Coaching and Research Committee and Medical Committee.