A week after a group of gold medallists threatened to go on strike because they had not been paid, the nation’s Sports Ministry has brought an end to a long-running leadership dispute by stopping its support for the BFVT.

A new federation will be created by the man who won the last weightlifting election in Bulgaria, Arif Majed.

The Sports Ministry’s decision looks like good news for the athletes, as the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) confirmed that ratifying a new federation is a straightforward process provided the paperwork is in order.

"All the athletes in the national team will move across from the old federation to the new one," Majed told insidethegames..

"It’s a very exciting moment - we’ve been waiting for more than a year to take control after winning the election.

"It’s very obvious what’s been going on.

"The new federation will be cleared of bravado, personal ambitions and incessant conflicts.

"One of the most successful Bulgarian sports deserves to develop in a much calmer and more constructive environment.

"Everyone is euphoric, very motivated for the future."

The elections were 14 months ago, since when Majed’s rival, Nedelcho Kolev, has contested the validity of the election and nominally retained the Presidency.

During that time Bulgaria has lost hosting rights for a major competition, and was unable to send a team to the Junior World Championships.

Kolev, who had been in charge before Majed’s victory, has been accused by the Ministry of putting his own interests ahead of those of the athletes and the sport.

He in turn claimed that "dirty money" had been used in the dispute and told insidethegames that there was corruption in the Sports Ministry.

In the 14 months since the elections there have been court hearings and funding problems.

Bulgaria should have hosted the continental championships this year but because of the dispute the European Weightlifting Federation (EWF) could not get the guarantees it needed, and it moved them to Tirana, Albania.

Majed paid for Bulgaria to send a team to the IWF World Championships last December in Uzbekistan, where its remarkable teenage talent Karlos Nasar set the 81 kilograms world record.

The state refused to fund Bulgaria’s participation in this year’s IWF Junior World Championships where, Majed said, Bulgaria would have won medals.

The Sports Minister Rodostin Vassilev, an attorney who specialises in sport law, said: "Nedelcho Kolev showed himself to be a person who is unable to manage the BFVT.

"He refuses to meet any deadlines, to have proper documents, and to spend state funds according to their intended purpose rather than personal discretion."

He said that BFVT had not provided contracts for its athletes, coaches and officials as required by the Ministry and that Kolev had refused to enter into "constructive dialogue" in a meeting last week.

"He presents the Ministry of Youth and Sports with only one option - to stop funding the BFVT and revoke the federation’s licence."

If "no measures are taken" by Kolev, the revocation will happen this week, the Ministry said.

Asked if he could take such measures, Kolev said: "The Bulgarian Minister of Sport removed me from office and put in the new President, Majed, so what can I do?"

Majed said: "Nedelcho Kolev is out, his licence is taken away, his funding is taken away and unfortunately for him he is out of everything."

Antonio Conflitti, President of the European Weightlifting Federation, told insidethegames that the continental body would support the IWF’s ratification of the new federation as soon as possible.

"The situation in Bulgaria is very strange," he said.

"Right now the athletes are suffering and we can’t allow that.

"The priority is to support the athletes every time."

When Hristo Hristov, the European 109kg champion, complained that athletes had not been paid since mid-May, Kolev said he was unaware of the situation and that the Ministry was to blame.

"Running a federation and not knowing whether your athletes get paid - doesn’t that sound funny?" Hristov said.

"The federation does not adhere to a contract with the Ministry and the Ministry stops our subsidies - and we end up being punished for no reason."

Bulgaria’s national coaches, Ivan Ivanov and his assistants Alan Tsagaev and Nikola Kolev, said they had not been paid since December.

Majed, a successful businessman, told insidethegames last December: "For the last 10 years our federation has been lost in space, generally speaking.

"We have to change the image of Bulgarian weightlifting."

Bulgaria was sent home from or banned from the Olympic Games four times between 1988 and 2016 because of doping, which has been a huge problem for decades.