Mohamed Yousef Al Mana announces candidacy for International Weightlifting President

Mohamed Yousef Al Mana, President of the Asian Weightlifting Federation (AWF) and 1st Vice President of the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) and has today officially announced that he is running for the position of President of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF).

Al Mana has vast leadership experience stemming from a combination of his various roles in international sport as well as his successful professional career in both the public and private sector. In addition to his roles at the QOC and AWF, he is the long-standing President of the Qatar Weightlifting Federation which has recently seen positive development in both national growth of the sport and international competition – bringing home a gold medal from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In 2017, he was also elected as the President of the Qatar Fencing Federation. For more than 25 years, Al Mana had a successful career working in the Qatar Ministry of Interior. He is now an elected member of Parliament and Chairman of the Financial & Economic Committee.

Under the banner of ‘For a stronger tomorrow’, Mohamed Yousef Al Mana, believes that it is time for the IWF to move beyond its recent challenges. But to do this successfully, the sport needs an experienced leader right now that can ensure weightlifting is much stronger tomorrow. He highlights three areas that will help move weightlifting forward: a stronger and enhanced Olympic status, a stronger and sustained approach to global development and stronger and expanded partnerships.

While announcing his candidacy, Mohamed Yousef Al Mana stated:

“It is time that our focus turns back to moving our sport forward. I am both ready and fully committed to use my experience to lead the International Weightlifting Federation now towards a new beginning. I believe that a more stable, more resilient and more ambitious future for weightlifting awaits – but it will take courage, energy and strong leadership to get there.”

The election for the new IWF President will take place on 25-26 June 2022, at the IWF Special and Electoral Congress in Tirana, Albania.

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