MOSCOW, Sep 8, Vasily Bogdanov. Head of the Russian Weightlifting Federation (FTAR) ) Maxim Agapitov said that he was counting on a fair decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on his lawsuit against the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) and the vice-president of the organization, the Hungarian Attila Adamfi. In August 2021, Agapitov published an open letter criticizing the President of the Federation British weightlifters Matthew Curten and Adamfi. The Hungarian is the son-in-law of former IWF chief Tamas Ajan, who left his post in April 2020 amid a corruption scandal involving an independent panel investigation of Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren. In December 2021, the IWF ethics commission reprimanded Agapitov and awarded him a $7,000 fine in compensation for reputational damage. Agapitov appealed this decision to CAS. «The meeting took place, but it is still difficult to say when the final decision will be. All parties were represented: ours, the International Weightlifting Federation and Attila Adamfi. They heard the testimony of witnesses, including Dr. Richard McLaren. The arbitrators got acquainted with all the circumstances. I would not give any predictions. I can only say that we hope for a fair decision. I don’t know if we will take any other actions in the legal plane in case of a decision that does not satisfy us. First we need to wait for the decision of the CAS arbitrators, » — said Agapitov.
