International Weightlifting Federation Prez Tamas Ajan steps down amid the corruption investigation

NewsBharati    16-Apr-2020 12:41:14 PM
Total Views |
Budapest, April 16: While getting investigated following the allegations of corruption and doping cover-ups, Dr. Tamás Aján has officially resigned from the International Weightlifting Federation. In a virtual meeting, the IWF Executive Board had approved the retirement and accepted the resignation after a 24-year working as the General Secretary and 20 years as its President.
 
560_1  H x W: 0 
 
It was stated, "As part of his retirement, Ajan has tendered his resignation from the position of IWF President with immediate effect". Ursula Papandrea is the one who stepped in as acting president when Aján delegated his responsibilities in January, is now leading the organization.
 
Though Ajan had worked for more than four decades as part of IWF, his 'retirement' did not turn out to be a good send-off. Earlier in January, a German documentary was released called " Secret Doping – the Lord of the Lifters" which blasted allegations of financial corruption and doping coverups. It involved in this documentary. One of the main allegations made against him was that International Olympic Committee provided millions of dollars to the IWF which went missing under his reign.
 
The allegations continued when he would allow the Hungarian National Anti-Doping Agency (HUNADO) the athletes to purchase clean drug tests and let “doppelgangers” supply urine samples for them. However, publicly, the IWF and Aján denied the allegations, but he had already lost much of his significance at the IWF.
 
Meanwhile, according to the reports, the reason Aján resigned was that IWF EB was in favor of expelling him. There were e-mails leaked between Papandrea and Aján that showed intense opposition between the two. It was revealed that he threatened to have Papandrea arrested in the IWF offices for allowing the investigative team to enter. He did not allow any access to IWF bank accounts and interfered with board meetings along with threatening and insulting her.
 
On the other hand, “The IWF thanks Tamas Ajan for more than four decades of service to weightlifting, and most notably for his work in recent years to ensure an anti-doping program which meets the standards of the IOC and WADA is in place,” said IWF Acting President Ursula Papandrea. “We can now begin the work of determining a fresh path towards achieving the full potential of our sport.”
 
The IWF Executive Board noted that an independent investigation by Richard McLaren is currently going on who had undercovered the wrongdoings of the FIFA corruption in 2015 that included evidence of wire fraud, racketeering, money laundering, and bribery. The team is also examining allegations made by ARD and related issues.
 
“I offered the best of my life to our beloved sport,” said Ajan. “When health circumstances related to the pandemic allow, holding elections would enable a new generation to start work as soon as possible on ensuring a bright future for the sport we love.”
 
The IWF Executive Board meeting will continue as it considers both the Olympic Qualifying System and IWF governance matters.
 
Speaking about the qualification over the postponed-Tokyo Olympics, Papandrea said, “In these difficult and uncertain times, the IWF is determined to provide clarity over qualifying for the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics to weightlifters everywhere. Our athletes are our first priority and they are currently facing significant challenges and disruption. We, therefore, want to ease the burden on them and ensure that we are providing them with further details about how we will deliver a safe and fair qualification process.”