IWF Signs Multi-Year Contract Extension With ITA, Responds To WADA I&I Report

Lausanne; 22 October 2020; The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) today confirmed an extension of its partnership with the International Testing Agency (ITA) until the end of 2024 and provided an initial response to the report published by the Intelligence and Investigations (I&I) department of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

The agreement signed this week will empower the ITA to manage the entire anti-doping programme for international weightlifting, including the investigation and prosecution of all anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs). Since the first weightlifting agreement was signed with the ITA, it has collected more than 2,700 samples from weightlifters and investigated more than 110 ADRVs.

"The IWF is grateful to the ITA for its comprehensive management of anti-doping in international weightlifting," said IWF Interim President Dr. Mike Irani. "Clean weightlifters can rest assured that our sport now benefits from a world-class, independently administered anti-doping programme which will continue well into the future."

Today also saw the publication of WADA I&I’s report into weightlifting, summarizing a number of lines of investigation spanning several years.

"The provisional outcomes of WADA’s investigation into doping within weightlifting make for shocking reading," continued Irani. "The IWF is firmly committed to empowering the ITA with the resources necessary for followup of any intelligence provided to it by WADA."

"The IWF is determined to ensure a level playing field for the clean weightlifters, coaches and officials acknowledged by WADA. We will continue to take the necessary steps to deliver this level playing field, relying on the independent advice of WADA, the ITA and the IWF’s newly-formed independent Anti-Doping Commission. "

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