New Delhi: A decision on whether to ban the
dope-tainted Indian Weightlifting Federation has been deferred
till tomorrow by the sport's world governing body as it's
Executive Board is yet to take up the matter in its ongoing
annual Congress in Goyang City, Korea.
"During the Annual Congress yesterday (November 19)
nothing came up as all these cases are pending. The process is
on its long way. The Executive board will discuss on this
topic on Saturday," International Weightlifting Federation's
Spokesman Dezso Dobor said in a statement.
The Indian Federation, banned twice in the past, is faced
with the prospect of a third sanction after six of its lifters
flunked out-of-competition dope tests conducted by the World
Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
Under intense pressure from the Sports Ministry and the
Indian Olympic Association, all the officials of the Indian
Federation have put in their papers, something that even the
IWF had demanded in a letter to IOA chief Suresh Kalmadi.
But the now former General Secretary B R Gulati is in
Goyang to present India's case.
Under international rules, if four or more lifters test
positive in a calendar year, the national body can be banned
for a maximum of four years.
But resignations by officials has brightened the chances
of a lenient view from the executive board of the IWF.
Bureau Report
First Published: Friday, November 20, 2009, 15:49