The woman at the centre of the controversy, European champion Evagjelia Veli, has also dismissed the Albanian Weightlifting Federation President Elez Gjoza as "a racist and a liar".

Dimas - born and raised in Albania and now performance director of USA Weightlifting - said Greece would not be competing at two upcoming events in Albania, one continental and the other global, because "no one feels safe with this [Gjoza’s] leadership".

Gjoza has said his comments were directed against Dimas's brother, Odysseus, rather than Dimas himself and insisted that Greek coaches were to blame for doping by Albanians.

He claimed that Albanians who trained across the border in Greece "have used stanozolol… like the Greek athletes caught many years ago with the same substance".

Dimas told insidethegames that the Greek Weightlifting Federation was taking Gjoza to court and he had "informed everyone" of his views - the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), the European Weightlifting Federation (EWF) and the International Testing Agency (ITA).

"This person [Gjoza] is joke and it's a mess we don’t need in weightlifting, this leadership and people like him," said Dimas, who sits on the Executive Board of the IWF.

"It’s sad because it’s a second time with the same person [Gjoza has blamed Greece for Albanian positives before], but this time the Greek Weightlifting Federation is going in the court."

Dimas said that because of his heritage, "some people treat me like a traitor in Albania and it’s the best excuse for him [Gjoza].

"For him the enemy are the Dimas brothers and Greeks."

A sample taken after Veli's 55kg victory at the European Championships in Tirana, the Albanian capital, on May 29, came up positive but her provisional suspension - widely mentioned in the Albanian media - was not confirmed to insidethegames by the ITA until this weekend.

News of the provisional suspension has not been published on the website of either the ITA or the IWF.

The ITA said it was working towards a way of providing "a more transparent and clear way of directly communicating results management decisions".

Veli, who made all six lifts in Tirana on the way to a career-best total, faces disqualification if she is suspended when the case is closed.

When insidethegames originally asked Veli for comment before the positive sample result was confirmed by the ITA, she said: "I have never ever used any prohibited substance and I will fight to the end to prove my innocence."

She said that an earlier doping case against her, at national level in 2018, "did end in my favour" and that she could not comment further "as the case is under investigation and my lawyer has taken over".

But Gjoza’s comments in the Albanian media led to Veli calling him "a racist and a liar" in newspaper reports.

In a television interview, Gjoza said Veli had tested positive for traces of stanozolol and had been temporarily banned by the Albanian federation, and would be banned for life if the offence is proven.

Gjoza then made direct accusations against Odysseus Dimas, brother of Pyrros and also now a Greek national.

A document signed by Albania's national coach Artur Lagja, seen by insidethegames, also claimed that Odysseus Dimas had "a negative impact on athletes and coaches".

"Veli used a medication or an ampoule at times during her preparation for the European Championships and I can tell you that a Greek coach, Odise Dhima [the Albanian version of his name], was present in the hotel of Evangjeli Veli… and another athlete who tested positive," Gjoza told an interviewer.

That athlete was Herlsjon Ismailanj, who finished ninth for the host nation in the men's 67kg at the European Championships.

Ismailanj was tested by Albania’s national anti-doping agency before the European Championships and came up positive.

Gjoza has said the result did not arrive until after the event but local media reports claim that the Albanian federation knew about Ismailanj’s positive test and should have withdrawn him.

Gjoza said Ismailanj "has been training and has been in contact with coaches and the president of the Greek Weightlifting Federation".

"It is the second time that it has happened to us, both in Kazakhstan and in Tirana, that athletes who train in Greece come to us and are caught with doping."

Gjoza said Veli had been tested nine times by Albania's anti-doping authorities in the build-up to the European Championships and had never been positive.

His reference to Kazakhstan concerned the 2014 IWF World Championships, where Romela Begaj, Daniel Godelli, and Hysen Pulaku all tested positive for stanozolol and were disqualified.

Begaj lost her medal after becoming the first Albanian woman in any sport to win gold at a World Championships.

She was disqualified again after testing positive at the 2017 IWF World Championships in Anaheim, California, where she also won gold.

Gjoza, President of the Albanian Weightlifting Federation throughout that period, resigned in 2018 because of the public outcry that followed Begaj’s second doping violation.

When he returned to office at elections in December 2020, he spoke strongly against doping and said anybody found positive would be banned from the sport for life within Albania.

He was true to his word three months later when the Albanian federation banned Arber Cercizi for life after a second violation, and also suspended his coach for five years.

Gjoza was involved in controversy at the IWF elections, also hosted in Tirana, in June when he took to the stage, grabbed the microphone and started shouting at delegates after proceedings had been adjourned because of a dispute over Mohamed Jalood’s perceived withdrawal as a candidate for the Presidency.

Jalood was cleared to stand and won the election.

Gjoza, despite his comments about "the President of the Greek Weightlifting Federation" denied implicating Pyrros Dimas and said he had "scored an own goal" by complaining.

In a statement to insidethegames, Gjoza said he blamed Odysseus Dimas and other Greek coaches.

"We must inform you that the athletes who tested positive in Kazakhstan in 2014, Hysen Pulaku, Ronela Begaj and Daniel Godelli, trained for two months in Greece before the World Championships.

"As for Evagjelia Veli and her coach, she trained regularly in Greece, and she has participated in several Greek championships in 2022, which is categorically prohibited without the permission of the Albanian federation…

"We are repeating to you that all sports that have been trained in Greece have used a substance called stanazolol, like the Greek athletes caught many years ago with the same substance.

"This has made our federation very suspicious of the Greek federation."

Albania will host the European Junior and Under-23 Championships in Durres in October. 

Next year, on a date yet to be confirmed, it will host the IWF Youth World Championships in Tirana - but Greece will not be sending a team to either event.