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Russian athletes not to take part in IWF World Championships in September

The IWF World Championships will be held in Riyadh on September 4 through 17

MOSCOW, August 7. /TASS/. /TASS/. Russian athletes have not been cleared for participating in the upcoming IWF World Championships, the press service of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) said on Monday.

The IWF World Championships will be held in Riyadh on September 4 through 17.

"IWF EB (Executive Board - TASS) approved the AIN (Individual Neutral Athletes - TASS) delegation that will be present at the IWF World Championships. It includes 12 athletes, seven support personnel, and one technical official - all of them have a passport from Belarus," the IWF said.

"Related to the Olympic qualification for Paris 2024, the IWF voted positively on the guidelines for a Commission in charge of examining the athletes’ request for an exemption related to the qualification process. According to the IWF/IOC Qualification System for the weightlifting competitions at the Olympics, a mandatory presence in some events is part of the procedure. Also in accordance with those Rules, athletes may apply for an exemption, under exceptional circumstances. The mission of the new independent Commission is to analyse and decide on those requests," it said.

The world weightlifting body told TASS on July 28 that there were no Russian athletes on the list of World Championships participants.

Meanwhile, President of the Russian Weightlifting Federation Maxim Agapitov told TASS earlier that Russian weightlifters were ready to compete at the world championships on equal footing with their rivals. He called on the IWF to be guided by the Olympic Charter and qualify Russian athletes for the main event of the year.

The IWF Executive Board decided on May 12 to clear weightlifters from Russia and Belarus to take part in international tournaments as neutrals. The IWF ruled that all athletes seeking neutral status must fill out and submit individual declarations (commitments), in which they must confirm that they currently have no contractual or other links with the armed forces, state security agencies or other structures that provide support for the special military operation in Ukraine.