The final step in the important re-organisation and renewal process of the IWF and the international weightlifting community will be completed at the upcoming IWF Electoral Congress on June 25-26 this year. Preparations for the Congress are well underway.
A central part of the preparations for the IWF Congress is to have a motivated and well organised host to welcome all the IWF delegates in June. Following an open tender process, with ten candidates from several continents, the IWF Executive Board selected Tirana, Albania as the country in which it will host the 2022 IWF Electoral Congress set to take place on 25-26 June. Notably, Albania will provide a neutral setting for the important Electoral Congress as there are no candidates put forth by the national weightlifting federation.
Located in the centre of the country, Tirana, the capital and largest city of Albania, is enclosed by mountains and hills to east with a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea.
IWF Interim President, Dr. Michael Irani commented, “We are so pleased to be heading to Tirana for the 2022 IWF Electoral Congress. This is a very important milestone for us, as we were asked by our Olympic partners to address three issues this past year – first updating our constitution which has been completed, second cleaning up our sport from doping which we are happy to report that there have been zero cases in Tokyo 2020 and now the election coming up this summer will complete all three”,
The key agenda point for IWF Congress in Tirana will be the elections for new IWF President, Executive Board and various Committee positions where all candidates will go through a comprehensive vetting process. The vetting process is managed entirely by an independent Eligibility Determination Panel (EDP) chaired by Swiss lawyer Gabriel Nigon (pictured).
In a recent update to IWF Member Federations and Candidates, Mr. Nigon, on behalf of the EDP, thanked the unprecedented large number of candidates for the IWF Election 2022 and continued, “The EDP is currently examining whether the proposed candidates meet the objective eligibility criteria on the IWF Constitution. According to the IWF Constitution the decision regarding the eligibility of a candidate must be made no later than 30 days before the date of the IWF Electoral Congress, which in this case means 25th of May 2022”.
The objective eligibility criteria to be met by all candidates are listed under Article 13.12 and 37.2 of the newly approved IWF Constitution (can be downloaded from IWF website).
The IWF will in the coming days send to the Member Federations logistical information regarding the IWF Congress. This will include how to register for the Congress, obtain visas for Albania, the IWF Congress Agenda and hotel bookings and prices.