Statement regarding the investigation into the International Weightlifting Federation

The IOC has received the report by Prof. McLaren and is studying it very carefully. The content is deeply concerning.

We have taken note of Prof. McLaren’s appreciation of the full cooperation of the IOC in this investigation, which was commissioned by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) itself. As acknowledged in the report, the IOC has in the past three years required the IWF to adapt its anti-doping programme. Already in that time, the IOC significantly reduced the athlete quota for weightlifting at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, and only provisionally included weightlifting in the programme of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, subject to ongoing reforms of the anti-doping programmes and culture in the sport.

Shortly after the media reports in which the allegations against then-IWF President Tamás Aján were made, the IOC Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer started an investigation. On 3 March 2020, Mr Aján resigned as an IOC Honorary Member, a position he held because of his long-time IWF presidency.  

Following the conclusions of this report, the IOC will continue to support the efforts of the IWF and its Interim President to fundamentally reform its governance and management. Furthermore, the IOC will contact the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to determine whether there are any doping cases concerning the Olympic Games, and will follow up accordingly.

The original article can be found here.

Thursday, 04 June 2020

• Anti-Doping Integrity International Olympic Committee (IOC) International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Olympics