Russia leads the list of seven post-Soviet states suspended from weightlifting competitions for up to 12 months alongside China and Turkey.
The step was taken by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) following the retesting of samples from Beijing 2008 and London 2012.
“At the IWF we have made it clear that the incidence of doping in some areas is totally unacceptable and that our Members have a responsibility to ensure clean sport in their countries,” IWF President Tamas Ajan said on the federation’s website.
A three-person panel unanimously approved the decision, which will see athletes from nine states unable to compete at the world championships in Anaheim, starting in November, either under national or neutral flags.
The banned nations, which also include Kazakhstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine, may be allowed to shorten their suspensions, providing the national federations agree to extra-strict compliance rules.
