IWF fines Iran federation, bans lifters

Iran’s federation got fined $400,000 and the weightlifters were banned for two years each.

National lifter Mohsen Davoudi, who tested positive in the past as well as last month, will be banned from international games permanently.

Nine of the 11-strong Iran underwent doping tests by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) on Sept. 24 and reported to test positive for unidentified drugs.

The Iranian team was to depart on Sept. 25 for Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic, where the 75^th World Weightlifting Championships started on Sept. 29.

Tamas Ajan, the IWF president, personally invited the Iranian icon Rezazadeh to attend the world meet.

The world body has also imposed a lifetime ban on Iran’s Bulgarian trainer Georgi Ivanov.

If the federation refuses to pay the fine, it will be banned for two years, as well.