Doping abuse, including corruption – it’s not good for weightlifting. Now the world association is electing a new board. It’s about the future of sport, says Florian Sperl, President of the Federal Association of German Weightlifters. The ex-president’s son-in-law is also up for electionTamás Ajan.
A few days ago, Florian Sperl returned from Mexico, where he followed the Junior World Championships in weightlifting. The return journey took two days. He was only at home for a short time, an appointment with the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) in Frankfurt was waiting for him. Then Leipzig, Dresden, Munich and Tirana, all within 36 hours. “It’s already a lot straight”says Sperl of the sports show.
On Saturday (June 25, 2022) and Sunday, the world weightlifting association will elect the International Weightlifting Federation (IMF), in Albania’s capital Tirana a new board. The election will, there is no other way to write it, decide the future of a sport.
There have been many twilight days for weightlifting lately – and the question is, what’s coming now: pitch black darkness or a bright sunrise?
Sperl says: “I want to have an influence”
Since the end of 2020, Sperl, 34, has been President of the Federal Association of German Weightlifters (BVDG), but that’s not enough for him. He’s busy with the weightlifting and the twilight. Sperl has therefore put himself on the list of candidates at the IMF, including for a position as vice president. He wants to be on the board, where the decisions are made. Sperl says: “I want to influence the development of weightlifting.”
Sperl used to be a weightlifter himself, second division, after all: 117 kilos in the snatch, 156 kilos in the clean and jerk. He still competes against resistance, only these are no longer weights and also not his own body. Sperl is now fighting doping abuse and corruption, and he’s fighting for the sport he loves.
Florian Sperl, President of the Federal Association of German Weightlifters
Lifetime ban for ex-president Ajan
Weightlifting was once a proud sport, one of only ten to feature at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. The sport has written impressive stories about power, technique and precision. Recently, the stories were less beautiful, it was about corruption, doping cover-up, election fraud.
In January 2020, the ARD-Documentation “The Lord of Lifters” all of which stood at the center Tamás Ajan, at that time President of the IMF for 20 years. Aján resigned, he had no choice. A few days ago, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) banned Aján, 83, for life.
Ajan So it’s the past – and somehow it’s also the present. There are still athletes, but above all officials, who have benefited from the corrupt system of the past. Of course they have no interest in change. “The Old Guard Clings”, the FAZ once headlined. It couldn’t have been phrased better.
Weightlifting, says Sperl, must remain Olympic
Now the Olympic status is threatened. That, said Sperl, must be prevented at all costs.
Weightlifting will be represented at the Paris 2024 Games, albeit with fewer athletes than before. For the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, the IOC has taken weightlifting out of the program for the time being. However, this decision could be revised at a congress in the coming years – if the IOC likes the development in the association. They look very closely at how the votes are voted on in Tirana.
If you ask him which scenario he is reckoning with, Sperl says: “I’m saying weightlifting will be Olympic in 2028 and beyond.” He then talks about a feeling he’s had for a few months. That many eligible voters would have understood what this election is about. And he talks about a reform that changed a lot.
Integrity committee to examine election proposals
In spring 2021, Sperl together with the BVDG developed a seven-point program. When the IMF actually passed a reform months later, some points from it were very similar to Sperl’s demands.
There is now one dedicated to the International Olympic Committee (I.O.C) subordinate integrity committee, which examines election proposals. The International Testing Agency (IT). There is also an age limit for officials and a limit on the terms of office. A term of office lasts four years, and a person can be elected a maximum of three times. All of that, says Sperl, is one “really important sign.”
Ajans son-in-law wants to become general secretary
Before the election, the IWF uploaded a document containing brief profiles of all the candidates. Sperl says he likes the list better than in previous elections. Only one name worries him. Attila Adamfi, 48, is also among the contenders for the post of Secretary-General.
Adamfi is the son-in-law of Tamás Ajan. as Ajan Once President, Adamfi was Secretary General, the second most powerful person in the IMF. In the report of the special counsel Richard McLaren, who after the release of the documentary “The Lord of the Lifters” and the resignation of Ajan has been commissioned to deal with it, Adamfi has been charged with electoral fraud.
Instructions on which candidates to tick were found on his computer. It won, you guessed it: Ajan.