Expression of Interest – IWF Elections March 2021

Following the recent announcement that the IWF will hold their next IWF Constitution Reform and Electoral Congress on 24-27 March 2021, British Weight Lifting would like to invite expressions of interest from any eligible member, with the highest standards of professional and ethical conduct, who feel they have the required experience to be nominated for the vacant roles.

The vacant positions at the IWF are as follows:

• IWF President
• IWF General Secretary
• IWF Vice President
• IWF Executive Board Member
• IWF Technical Committee Member
• IWF Medical Committee Member
• IWF Coaching and Research Committee Member

BWL’s ambition is to have a strong, respected and supportive voice in our International Federation, which we firmly believe should effectively govern the sport with credibility and legitimacy. In particular we are keen to influence and ensure a clean, transparent athlete-centred sport with a secure Olympic future. To do so it is important for BWL to not just have a voice within the IWF but be able to play its part on driving governance change and development within a very traditional Federation. As well as influencing reform BWL is keen to ensure key areas of the sport including rules and regulations, qualification processes, eligibility, new disciplines and doping issues are dealt with professionally and openly with athletes and the sport at the heart of all decisions.

In order for the BWL Board to nominate individuals ahead of the deadline set by the IWF of 25 January 2021, BWL are seeking expressions of interest that include a brief explanation as to their relevant experience and why individuals feel they are appropriate to represent BWL at an International level.

Please note that all nominees will be expected to agree to any recommendations relating to all future International appointments that arise from an on-going BWL International Relations review following the recent McLaren report into a wide variety of extremely concerning allegations regarding the previous IWF President and Executive Board.

The proposed schedule for the IWF elections is:

Day of arrival:                                                               23rd March 2021 (Tuesday)

IWF Constitution Reform Congress:                           24th-25th March (Wednesday-Thursday)

IWF Electoral Congress:                                              26th-27th March (Friday-Saturday)

Departure:                                                                    28th March 2021 (Sunday)

Please note that the above dates may change according to the COVID-19 situation. The IWF are also looking at designing a hybrid online / offline format if necessary.

You can view a copy of the BWL expression of interest form here. Candidates are also required to send a CV and cover letter outlining why they wish to apply for each respective role.

The deadline for expressions of interest is 5pm Wednesday 13 January 2021. All expressions of interest should be sent to ashley.metcalfe@britishweightlifting.org

BWL will appoint a Nominations Panel, including three senior independent BWL Board members to assess all expressions of interest and those eligible candidates who have submitted successful expressions of interest will be notified prior to any submission to the IWF ahead of their deadline.