The International Testing Agency has released its report into doping in weightlifting between 2009 and 2019. It comes with some explosive allegations against people working at the top levels of weightlifting.
Ket points from the report:
- Former president Tamás Aján, Current vice president Nicu Vlad and current president of EWF Hassan Akkus charged with covering up positives tests
- Vlad’s charge relates to the Romanian athlete Roxana Cocos being allowed to compete at the 2012 Olympics despite testing positive at the European Championships earlier that year. She went on to win a silver medal at the London games although it was stripped from her later due to retesting of samples.
- Ajan is charged in relation to the Romanian case but also for a conspiracy to cover up positives from Azerbaijan
- Akkus is charged with covering up positives from his home nation, Turkey
- There are 29 probable violations that cannot be pursued as either too much time has passed or evidence was destroyed
- There are 8 cases ongoing against Russian athletes based on data seized from the Russian anti-doping laboratory
The charges against Vlad and Akkus are particularly explosive given that they both currently hold high offices within international weightlifting.
The IWF has responded by acknowledging the report and saying it is ready to take immediate action in response to its findings. IWF Interim President Dr Mike Irani also issued an apology to clean athletes who have lost out due to doping over previous years.