All members of Thailand’s amateur weightlifting Executive board have been forced to resign en masse from their posts following the revelations about doping practices among athletes made in an expose of the sport.
The latest development comes as continued fallout from an explosive undercover documentary aired by a German broadcaster highlighting the systemic corruption and rampant use of banned drugs and steroids among the global weightlifting community.
The documentary by veteran journalist Hajo Seppelt released earlier this month has brought the global sport to increased scrutiny with special focus on Thailand as the 2012 Olympics Bronze winner Siripuch Gulnoi was filmed admitting the use of steroids when she was 18 years old.
Thailand used to be a dominant country in competent weightlifting sport but its reputation has suffered a lot recently. Just last year, nine Thai weightlifters including two Olympics champions were banned for using banned performance-enhancing drugs.
The documentary has also implicated national and global regulators failing to their job in maintaining transparency in conducting doping tests and handling the blood and urine samples from athletes.
The IWF – International Weightlifting Federation has been also accused of financial misconduct and misappropriation of millions of dollars of funds into individual accounts.
The IWF president Tamas Ajan has agreed to step away from his role for 90 days and an impartial inquiry into the matter has been initiated by the IOC – International Olympics Committee.
