Kazakh Weightlifting Federation comments on national team's suspension

ASTANA. KAZINFORM On Saturday, October 21, the Kazakhstan Weightlifting Federation was officially notified of the one-year disqualification of the national teams athletes of which violated the anti-doping rules three or more times following the re-examination of the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games samples, according to Sports.kz.

The list includes 9 countries: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, China, Moldova, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine.

It is reported that the national weightlifting team was suspended from participation in international competitions for one year, until October 19, 2018. The decision was made in June 2016 following the results of the IWF Executive Committee meeting in Tbilisi.

Since then Kazakhstan Weightlifting Federation has officially stated that disqualification is not the most effective measure to combat doping since it directly affects the interests of honest athletes. The Federation claims that at all stages of consideration of the issue it has declared its readiness to assume additional obligations with regards to promoting clean sport in order to avoid suspension. According to the KWF, the IWF took its arguments into consideration and the decision provides mechanisms for mitigating the punishment for the country's youth weightlifting team. Thus, it is reported, young Kazakh athletes will continue to prepare for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.

It should also be noted that, despite the national team's suspension, the KWF representatives will continue their activities in the governing bodies of the international and Asian federations.

The IWF said that it will work with Federations of suspended countries to ensure that they implement the IWF Rules and construct their national level ‘shields' to protect clean athletes. It has also urged the nine suspended countries to willingly undertake complying with a massive set of criteria aimed at triggering the cultural shift, thus, ensuring that once they regain their eligibility, a level-playing field is ensured at the national level.

"Eliminating doping from Kazakhstani and world sports is the main priority of the Kazakhstan Weightlifting Federation. Kazakhstan constantly works to improve and tighten the anti-doping policy, which resulted in the absence of cases when prohibited drugs were detected in Kazakhstani weightlifters' tests at the international level in 2016 and 2017," the statement reads.