Tamas Ajan Targeted by Hungarian Prosecutors

You're reading an online edition of the Weightlifting House newsletter. Want stories like these delivered directly to you every Friday? Subscribe here. 

Former IWF President Tamás Aján may face additional legal consequences, according to Hungarian reporting on Jan. 9.

Remind me: Aján served as IWF President for 20 years amid investigations of corruption and financial crimes during his tenure.

Happening now: Government attorneys in Budapest have charged Aján with multiple counts of embezzlement. Prosecutors have asked the courts to levy Aján with a monetary fine and prison time.

• “I trust the judiciary will make a well-founded decision,” said Aján, 86, adding that he feels victimized by a “smear campaign” from countries that were banned from weightlifting during Aján’s time.

If you're a new fan of weightlifting, here's the rundown. While weightlifting's prospects are trending upward—our sport was, unexpectedly, granted an expanded presence at the 2028 Olympics—five years ago, it looked like weightlifting was on its way out.

• Ajan held office as President of the IWF from 2000 to 2020.
  • While in office, Ajan accepted bribes to disregard positive doping tests and mishandled designated IWF funding, among other crimes. 
• In January 2020, a German documentary brought many of Ajan's crimes to light, leading to his resignation from the International Olympic Committee's Executive Board.
• In April 2020, Ajan resigned from the IWF.
• In June 2020, the McLaren report, a four-year investigation into Ajan's "culture of fear" within the IWF, was published, cementing him as a pariah.
  • Throughout the 2010s, bureaucratic malpractice led to the IOC gradually reducing weightlifting's exposure at the Olympics. 
    • Paris 2024 allowed the fewest weightlifters on stage since 1956.
• In June 2022, Ajan was permanently banned from holding IWF office, and current president Mohammed Jalood was elected to enact reforms.

Under new leadership and with a more diverse Executive Board, the IWF has managed to partially refurbish weightlifting in the eyes of the IOC.