Khaled Korany, who is "living the happiest moments of my life" after his victory in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), is now planning to file another case against the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF).

He blames an independent IWF panel for turning his life into "a nightmare" and making him a scapegoat for the doping scandal without even hearing his testimony.

"I will demand financial compensation for the period I spent without work, as well as for my psychological state and the moral abuse inflicted on my name and my reputation as a coach," Korany, 54, told insidethegames.

The case, which dragged on for more than six years after seven young Egyptian lifters tested positive for the steroid metandienone, took a huge toll on Korany's life and also on his family, he said.

"I was depressed, I had no income…I suffered on a personal and social level and my family has suffered with me."

Korany, a successful national coach for Egypt and Saudi Arabia, had his contract as Tunisia's head coach cancelled in May 2020 when he was provisionally suspended on two charges that were almost unheard of at the time.

There was no record of anybody ever being charged by the IWF with "intentional complicity", and only one other coach had been sanctioned for "administration (to an athlete) of a prohibited substance".

Korany had finished his role with the Egyptian Weightlifting Federation (EWF) and was waiting to take up a new position in Saudi Arabia when he was asked to stand in for a few weeks and take charge of Egypt's team for the African Youth and Junior Championships.

He agreed, but he had not been involved in long-term preparations, did not know all the athletes and regarded the Championships - staged in Cairo in December 2016 - as "a weak competition".

The positive samples were taken at a training camp held immediately before the Championships, and five of the athletes were minors, including two 14-year-old girls.

The IWF anti-doping policy at the time stated that if a violation by any support personnel involved a minor it would be considered "a particularly serious violation and… shall result in lifetime ineligibility".

A report by the IWF's Independent Member Federations Sanctions Panel, which imposed a suspension in September 2019 that kept Egypt out of the Tokyo Olympic Games, was highly critical of those involved in the scandal which, it said, was a criminal matter.

The Panel was "very troubled" that seven young athletes were punished with four-year suspensions while no coaches, medical staff or other officials had been held responsible.

The EWF was "frozen" by Egypt's National Olympic Committee after the suspension and is now, like the IWF, under new leadership.

The IWF signed a partnership with the International Testing Agency (ITA) in 2019 and has since put the administration of all anti-doping procedures entirely in the hands of the ITA.

The IWF panel's comments, Korany believes, led to him becoming the scapegoat for the scandal when there was no evidence against him other than his position as stand-in head coach of the team.

When he was informed in January last year that he had been banned from weightlifting for life he could not believe that he had not been given a chance to defend himself.

"It was a very big shock - I did not believe that I would be suspended without the authorities interrogating me," he said.

"The International Federation did not recognise any testimonies or reports I submitted and there was an insistence on offering me up as a scapegoat.

"Immediately, I decided to appeal and I hired the Tunisian lawyer, Sami Boussarsar, to defend me.

"The cost of the appeal was more than I could afford but the issue for me was life or death, and I sold some private belongings to help pay the costs of the case.

"I spent more than two and a half years without work, sitting at home because I have no job other than training weightlifting.

"My psychological state was very bad. I stayed at home and I was depressed due to the lack of work and the lack of income, with six members of the family at different stages of education."

The CAS decision had been postponed four times, Korany said, and he had not expected to hear the result until February 23.

"I almost feel like I'm dreaming…this nightmare is gone. I feel like a bird that had been trapped inside a cage and now the door has been opened."

He is free to work immediately, having been cleared of the offences.

As for what actually happened at the training camp, no details of what was said to the CAS panel have been made public.

At the time of his provisional suspension, Korany said that he suspected foul play, and that there had been "a dirty war" during a power struggle within the EWF.

The athletes had been "tricked by someone who knew they were too young to understand everything that was going on", Korany said in May 2020, and the guilty party was not blamed.

Asked if he had any more to add now, Korany said, "Unfortunately, the guilty party is still free because there is no tangible evidence to prove the accusation.

"But I did prove that the players were deceived.

"We submitted all documents and witness testimony regarding the circumstances of the case, and I believe that the court accepted it, otherwise this ruling would not be in my favour now."

Korany is no longer in contact with Mahmoud Mahgoub, the former IWF Executive Board mmber who was President of the EWF at the time - but he did say that Mahgoub had "testified to the truth" at CAS.

"Certainly the current (Egyptian) federation is much better than then," Korany said.

"After electing a new leadership almost a year ago, it seeks to renounce the internal conflicts and problems that existed in the past, as well as working seriously in combating doping and trying to eliminate it."

He said he had received support from many friends in weightlifting during his exile.

"There are many people who helped me in this case and were supportive beyond measure," he said.

He cited "my wife, my mother and the rest of the family", his lawyer Sami Boussarsar, the Saudi and Tunisian federations, the EWF President Mohamed Maqsoud and its technical director Alaa Hassan Kamel, and the "honest" coaches and lifters who backed him.

"Now, after the decision of the sports court I am living the happiest moments of my life and I can hardly believe it.

"I am in a state of euphoria and I have many training offers, whether in Egypt or abroad, and I will decide on that soon."