PWF ex-chief, coach banned for life over doping
In a separate case, Pakistani weightlifter Abubakar Ghani was banned for four years after CAS ADD found he had tampered with the doping control process
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LAHORE: Former Pakistan Weightlifting Federation (PWLF) president Hafiz Imran Butt and ex-national coach Irfan Butt have each been handed lifetime bans for their roles in administering prohibited substances to athletes, including minors, the Court of Arbitration for Sport Anti-Doping Division (CAS ADD) said.
The rulings, issued on March 20, 2026, follow an investigation led by the International Testing Agency (ITA) on behalf of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), which found both officials had committed anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs) between September 2014 and November 2016.
CAS ADD concluded that the pair violated Article 2.8 of the IWF Anti-Doping Rules by directly administering banned substances, including steroids, to Pakistani weightlifters and playing “central roles in large-scale doping” in the country.
“Both individuals actively and continuously engaged in doping practices,” the tribunal said in its decision, describing the conduct as severe and systematic.
As a result, Hafiz Imran Butt and Irfan Butt have been declared ineligible for life from participating in any capacity in sport governed by signatories to the World Anti-Doping Code.
The cases were referred to CAS ADD on April 1, 2025, following results management proceedings by the ITA, with a joint hearing held on June 30, 2025. Both men, along with relevant stakeholders including the World Anti-Doping Agency, retain the right to appeal the decision before CAS’s appeals division.
In a separate case, Pakistani weightlifter Abubakar Ghani was banned for four years after CAS ADD found he had tampered with the doping control process.
The tribunal ruled on March 6, 2026, that Ghani violated Article 2.5 of the IWF Anti-Doping Rules by submitting falsified medical prescriptions during earlier proceedings related to a positive test for a tamoxifen metabolite.
Ghani had already served a two-year ban from February 2022 to January 2024 after testing positive at the 2021 World Championships in Tashkent. During that case, he provided multiple explanations supported by prescriptions later found to be fabricated.
The new four-year sanction took effect from March 6, 2026, and will run until March 5, 2030. Ghani and relevant authorities, including WADA and Pakistan’s national anti-doping body, may appeal the ruling.
The developments add to ongoing challenges for the PWLF, which is currently serving a one-year suspension imposed in June 2025 by the IWF’s Independent Member Federation Sanctioning Panel after multiple doping violations within a 12-month period.
The latest findings could trigger further disciplinary proceedings against the federation under IWF rules.
