Weightlifting can still be a part of those Games but it has to follow a pathway laid down by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the most important element of which is changing the culture of a sport that has been dogged by doping and corruption scandals.

The news was announced by the IOC yesterday when it said weightlifting, boxing and modern pentathlon had to address governance problems if they want to be on the programme in 2028.

The IOC has repeatedly criticised the IWF over the past two years after corruption and doping scandals – which are still under investigation – were exposed.

In elaborating on yesterday’s announcement, the IOC said its own Executive Board had "expressed disappointment about the ongoing governance instability, which is keeping the current IWF leadership in charge, further delaying the transition towards an effective change of culture".

Antonio Urso, the Italian who resigned from the IWF Board last year admitted "the corruption was stronger than me," saying: "These changes have to happen immediately – no delays."

Ursula Papandrea of the United States, who also left the Board last year after being ousted as the IWF’s Interim President, said: "The IOC has made it very clear that weightlifting’s international governance is not fit for purpose and we are running out of time to get our house in order."

She said the current Board "remains in full control of the sport a full seven months past their mandate, which expired in May 2021" and that athletes had been "greatly harmed" by the Board’s actions, or lack of them, and were now "left in limbo".

The German Florian Sperl, a third Presidential candidate in the delayed elections, also highlighted the need to hold the elections and impose change as soon as possible.

He said the IOC had given weightlifting a chance and "we should use that chance and now conduct the elections professionally and quickly".

In a statement issued today, the IWF’s Interim President Mike Irani said: "We take careful note of the IOC’s concerns and we are confident these concerns will be overcome as we continue to implement our wide-ranging reforms."

There was, though, no indication of when the elections would take place.

He said the IWF expected to be in a position to hold the elections "by the end of the first semester of 2022" – but a semester is an educational term of no given length and no given start time.

Urso is back as a candidate for the elections, whenever they take place.

He said: "The IWF needs new governance able to change completely the culture of the sport."

Urso was beaten in the 2017 IWF elections when Tamas Ajan won a fifth term as President – which would not be possible under the rules of a new Constitution adopted in August.

Since then, weightlifting has been beset by a series of scandals, with doping at their root, and Ajan has resigned and been charged with a serious doping offence after allegedly colluding to allow a suspended weightlifter to compete and win a medal at the Olympic Games.

Urso told insidethegames a year ago he had no intention of returning to the IWF but he has had a change of heart.

He said: "Four years ago in Thailand, I presented a project for the renewal of the Federation. 

"That project is still valid."

Urso said today he had first raised the very real prospect of weightlifting losing its Olympic status at a Board meeting on September 22 2009 – a time when, as recent investigations have shown, doping corruption was embedded within the IWF.

"I remember very well some people started smiling," he warned.

"Today, some of those same people who were smiling are candidates in the IWF elections, talking of transparency and democracy.

"There are so many reasons for us to be out of the Olympic Games - everything is at risk."

Urso wants the IOC to approach National Olympic Committees (NOCs) around the world to impress on them the need for change in countries that are still part of the problematic weightlifting culture.

"The IOC and the NOCs must work together to push for Member Federations to work clean," he said.

"Change at the bottom as well as the top is essential.

"The IWF alone can do a lot but it cannot do everything when it comes to changing the culture of the sport.

"There is an easy way to do it: usually a sports ministry or NOC gives financial support to a weightlifting federation.

"Cut that support if a federation is not working clean."

Several members of the IWF Board were deemed by an independent vetting process to be ineligible to stand as election candidates, for a variety of reasons, last month.

The Board claimed the eligibility process had not been carried out properly and, after taking legal advice, said the elections would not take place as planned on December 20-21.

If the elections do not happen this year, the Board, while claiming they are following the rules of the Constitution, will also be breaking them.

Article 15 states elections must be held in 2021.

The IOC is watching closely and yesterday requested the IWF to confirm "there will be no relaxation of the eligibility criteria in the current IWF Constitution or the application of these criteria" and no further delays in staging the IWF elections.

It also wants "confirmation that the link between the number of quota places available per country and the doping history of the respective National Federations will be maintained in the proposed qualification system for Paris 2024".

The IOC said: "While the IWF is fully recognised by the IOC, it remains under strict monitoring and subject to ongoing review by the IOC Executive Board."

Papandrea said: "While I am thankful to the IOC Executive Board for permitting weightlifting to retain its Olympic sport status for 2024, subject to meeting specific conditions, there is no alleviation of the repeated risks the IWF Executive Board continues to take and the long-term Olympic future of our sport is now undeniably at stake.

"The IWF Board could have quite easily secured weightlifting’s long-term status by cooperating with the IOC's request to improve its governance and heed its call for new leadership.

"These delays leave athletes and Member Federations in limbo regarding their own futures.

"The negative effects of the IWF Board’s behaviour has greatly harmed the athletes, who suffered another reduction of 2020 quota places.

"This has been glossed over by the IWF as inevitable. 

"It was not. 

"A cooperative approach with the IOC instead of testing its leniency would have been a much better option.

"The IWF Board continues to put the sport’s long-term status in question.

"They have delayed our elections multiple times over the last year, with the latest postponement in direct violation of the newly adopted Constitution.

"They blatantly ignore transparency provisions of the Constitution and have yet to live stream Executive Board meetings (as required).

"The new Constitution is useless if not properly implemented."

Ashley Metcalfe, chief executive of British Weight Lifting (BWL), said: "The IOC cannot make it any clearer. 

"Our Olympic future is very much in our own hands. 

"We have a year to drive through critical governance changes and introduce new ethical leadership throughout all levels of the sport, including the IWF and at continental levels. 

"It is essential that weightlifting gets this right and we can offer our athletes a clean, credible and athlete-focused environment, which allows them to achieve their sporting ambitions."

Irani, also from Britain but unable to stand at the elections because he does not have the support of BWL, said: "We take careful note of the IOC’s concerns and we are confident these concerns will be overcome as we continue to implement our wide-ranging reforms.

"We are fully committed to upholding the highest standards of good governance.

"We held clean and successful competitions at Tokyo 2020, and the adoption of our new Constitution reflects our desire to build our future in the right way.

"The new Constitution already guarantees the future IWF Executive Board will have greater athlete representation and improved gender equity than ever before, demonstrating the change of culture the IOC has referenced.

"While we are eager for the elections to be held as soon as possible, it is imperative that we implement governance changes carefully so that this new chapter begins with a strong legal basis that is beyond reproach.

"I am confident the future Executive Board of the IWF will be well placed to satisfy the IOC’s requirements and ensure the place of weightlifting on the Olympic programme of Los Angeles 2028."