Thailand, which has the worst recent doping record in weightlifting, was putting the future of the entire sport at risk, Aján said in a strongly worded letter, a copy of which was sent to insidethegames by a member of the IWF Executive Board, who is unhappy with Thailand's behaviour.

The letter is addressed to Major General Intarat Yodbangtoey, who, as first vice-president of the IWF, holds the second-highest elected post in weightlifting, after Aján.

Yodbangtoey is also Honorary President of the Thai Amateur Weightlifting Association (TAWA) and husband of its President, Boossaba Yodbangtoey.

TAWA withdrew from international competition, and gave up all hope of qualifying any athletes for next year's Olympic Games in Tokyo, last March after nine of its team at the 2018 IWF World Championships tested positive, including two Olympic champions, Sukanya Srisurat and Sopita Tanasan.

Since then, Thailand has had two further doping violations: one for a 23-year-old male lifter and - as revealed exclusively by insidethegames yesterday - a 17-year-old girl who has forfeited her gold medal from the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires.

Despite its doping record - 10 athletes and 15 cases of doping violations in 14 months - Thailand has gone back on its pledge and argued for a return to competition for "clean youth and junior athletes" at the Southeast Asian Games in Philippines, due to start tomorrow.

Thailand initially tried for an early return via a proposal to the IWF Executive Board, which is scheduled to hold an extraordinary meeting in Lausanne on Thursday (Dec 5).

The Board's decision would come too late for Thailand to compete in the Southeast Asian Games, so TAWA also went to a civil court in Lausanne, where the IWF is registered, to plead for a provisional return for young athletes.

The court rejected TAWA's case, but that did not deter Yodbangtoey, who then asked Aján for an electronic vote by the IWF Executive Board on an early return for Thailand.

In a scathing reply, Aján says the court decision is clear, the IWF Executive Board cannot override its ruling, and taking an electronic vote would be "completely inappropriate".

He also highlights the warnings from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which is keeping a close eye on weightlifting, despite removing its "provisional status" on the Olympic Games schedule after the IWF overhauled its Olympic qualifying system and anti-doping strategy.

"We all know that the sport of weightlifting has been in danger since 2017 and the status of the sport on the Olympic programme is still threatened, considering the IOC's pressure on our shoulders," Aján writes.

He emphasises the words of the IOC, which stated in a letter to the IWF that it "would be concerned if there were any changes to the commitments previously made by all members of the weightlifting family… these commitments include those made by the Thai national federation.

"The explicit withdrawal of the Thai federation from the [2019] World Championships and the Olympic qualifying process was one of the important considerations of the IOC Executive Board in its March 2019 decision to lift the provisional status of inclusion of weightlifting in the programme of the Olympic Games Paris 2024."

Aján told Yodbangtoey that the IWF "cannot risk the reputation of the sport simply to allow a few athletes to participate at IWF events".

Aján writes: "Ignoring the several concrete messages of the IOC and the mentioned clear decision of the Swiss Tribunal is absolutely reckless and suggests that you are more concerned with your own national interests than the worldwide interest of weightlifting."

As for the request for "young and clean" Thai lifters to be allowed to compete, Aján highlighted the Youth Olympic Games positive of this week and said: "This positive case demonstrates that not only senior, but youth athletes have also been affected by the scandal of numerous positive cases which occurred last year in Thailand, and unfortunately turns the IOC's focus again on weightlifting."

Putting the interests of one country above the sport "would probably lead to a disastrous precedent risking the reputation and the Olympic status of our sport".

Aján has also written an open letter to all the sport's international athletes, emphasing the importance of independence in punishing doping cheats.

In that letter, Aján, who has held high office at the IWF since the 1970s, gives his backing to a proposed new collaboration with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

His letter follows a number of strong comments about doping, and the price clean athletes have had to pay, by Olympic medallists from the United States and Canada, among others.

After their views were published by insidethegames - read here - last weekend, a statement was released by Global Athlete, the Olympic athletes' organisation, highlighting the importance of independent testing and an independent body to sanction individuals and federations.

Nations with multiple doping offences are currently sanctioned by the Independent Member Federations Sanctions Panel, set up last year, but some executive board members from countries with a bad historic doping record, including Thailand, want the panel disbanded.

They want punishments for multiple offenders to be decided by the executive board - seven members represent nations who cannot send a maximum team of eight to Tokyo 2020 because of their doping record.

Aján said of the athletes' views, "In particular, I appreciate the concern over any proposals whereby sanctioning powers might be returned to the IWF Executive Board, for whose members a conflict of interest may exist.

"I share the view that doing this would not only be a step backwards, but would fail to honour our commitments to athletes, Member Federations, the global weightlifting family, the IOC and WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency).

"Furthermore, it would give the impression that such sensitive decisions may be politically influenced.

"Instead of moving backwards, I strongly believe we should move forwards and increase the independence of the sanctioning process, notably for individuals with anti-doping rule violations committed by athletes and athlete support personnel.

"In order to prepare for compliance with the 2021 WADA Code already, I will propose to the IWF Executive Board [in Lausanne next week] and fully support cooperating with the Anti-Doping Division of the Court of Arbitration in Sport.

"This would ensure that only independent expert arbitrators adjudicate those cases where hearings are requested by the individuals concerned.

"By choosing this solution, the IWF would adopt the most rigorous approach available to us.

"It is the same solution that applies to athletes at the Olympic Games, who are no longer sanctioned by the IOC in the case of anti-doping rule violations.

"Instead, these cases are also adjudicated by the Anti-Doping Division of the Court of Arbitration in Sport."