Under-fire weightlifting chief steps aside for corruption probe

International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) president Tamas Ajan agreed late Wednesday to relinquish his duties for 90 days while an independent investigation into allegations of corruption and doping violations are carried out.

Ursula Papandrea, the president of USA Weightlifting, will take over veteran Ajan's role in an acting capacity until April, said an IWF statement issued late Wednesday in Doha after a 13-hour emergency meeting of the organisation's executive board.

German broadcaster ARD alleged in a documentary earlier this month that a "culture of corruption" had been established in the Olympic sport with prominent weightlifters rarely subjected to drugs tests and cash being taken by doping controllers to accept manipulated urine samples.

The IWF executive board agreed to appoint independent experts to assess the allegations, a move it claimed would act "decisively" to restore the governing body's battered reputation.

"This work is expected to be completed during a 90-day period, starting immediately," it said.

Hungarian Ajan, 81, who has been at the IWF since 1976 serving 24 years as general secretary and the past 20 as president, claimed the documentary's allegations were unfounded.

"They are not supported by the relevant documentation or by people involved in the relevant decisions," he was quoted as saying in the statement.

- 'Unjust attack' -
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