ITA refers Weightlifting Federation of Vietnam to be sanctioned by independent panel due to multiple violations

The ITA has informed the Weightlifting Federation of Vietnam (WFV) that its case was being referred to the IWF’s Independent Member Federation Sanctioning Panel (Independent Panel) to impose sanctions against the WFV under the IWF Qualification System for the Games of the XXXII Olympiad Tokyo 2020 (IWF OQS) as a consequence of multiple ADRVs committed by four member athletes of the WFV.

As per the IWF OQS (Article 4), if more than three ADRVs are committed by athletes affiliated to the same member federation during the qualification period of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, the Independent Panel may impose sanctions including withdrawing quota place(s) with regard to the Games.

The case against the WFV concerns four athletes, namely: Ms. Thi Phuong Thahn NGUYEN, Mr. Van Vinh TRINH, Ms. Thi Thu Trang NGUYEN, and Mr. Dinh Sang BUI. All four athletes tested positive for prohibited steroids and were respectively sanctioned with a period of ineligibility of four years.

Given that the case is underway, the ITA will not comment further during the ongoing proceedings.