New IWF chief vows to make weightlifting dope-free sport

New Delhi: Newly-elected Indian Weightlifting Federation President Birendra Prasad Baishya today vowed to cleanse the sport from the doping menace which has brought shame to the country in the past.

Baishya, a Member of Parliament and former Union Minister, was elected unanimously for a four-year term in the General Body meeting of the IWF here and he immediately called on a meeting of the new executive committee and took three important decisions to fight doping in the sport. "It is well known that the federation is in a bad shape now. Our first agenda is to make weightlifting a dope-free sport. I want to make the working of the federation clean and transparent," he told reporters after his unanimous election."Immediately after the GBM, I called a meeting of the executive committee and took three decisions. The first is that any lifter in their residence or anywhere will have to give samples when demanded and strict action will be taken if anybody is caught for using banned substances without any consideration of his stature," Baishya said.Baishya said he will soon have a meeting with the coaches to discuss how the doping menace is curbed. "Our second decision was that I will have a meeting with the coaches to discuss how to stop the doping menace. The role of the coaches is very important here," he said. PTI