Agapitov was found to have defamed Attila Adamfi, the former director general of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), in a letter that was published on the EWF website and again in a video posted on social media.

The IWF’s Ethics and Disciplinary Commission said Agapitov "took a dangerous trajectory and defamed the complainant (Adamfi)" and that his behaviour amounted to an abuse of office.

He was reprimanded, and told that by December 24 – seven days after the Ethics and Disciplinary Commission made its decision – he must take down the video from all platforms and pay Adamfi $7,000 "as compensation for reputational damage".

The letter was removed from the EWF website four days after it was written in August, but the video titled Say No Doping, Save Weightlifting was still on YouTube today.

As well as focusing briefly on Adamfi, the video shows Pyrros Dimas, who sits alongside Agapitov on the IWF Executive Board, and the governing body's former Interim President Ursula Papandrea in a bad light.

The American Papandrea, who is unhappy with Agapitov’s recent behaviour relating to the forthcoming IWF elections, sent a letter of support to Adamfi for submission to the Ethics and Disciplinary Commission.

Dimas, a triple Olympic gold medallist for Greece who is now performance director for USA Weightlifting, was said to be very unhappy with the video.

Both the letter and the video were used by Agapitov to promote his candidacy for the IWF elections, which have since been postponed indefinitely.

Before the postponement, Agapitov was ruled ineligible by a vetting panel because of Russia’s doping record.

He said in mid-November he would challenge the decision in court.

He had enjoyed two successes before the Ethics and Disciplinary Commission ruling against him.

In July, Agapitov successfully challenged a decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), winning back his accreditation for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Also, in August, Agapitov’s complaint that his reputation had been damaged in a letter by Phil Andrews, chief executive of USA Weightlifting, was partially upheld by the Ethics and Disciplinary Commission.

Agapitov directly or indirectly questioned the credentials of rival candidates.

The Ethics and Disciplinary Commission took him to task over his behaviour.

When Agapitov first used the EWF website to publish the letter, which made derogatory comments about Adamfi and Matthew Curtain, a British candidate in the IWF elections, he was the Continental Federation’s Interim President.

He did not consult the EWF Board about its contents before posting it on the Federation’s website and it led to a vote of no confidence in his leadership by Member Federations.

The margin was 29-4.

A special election was called and Agapitov did not stand.

It was won yesterday by Antonio Conflitti, of Moldova, who is the new EWF President.

Agapitov remains first vice-president of the EWF and announced his support for Conflitti on social media yesterday.

The letter that was the basis of Adamfi’s complaint, and which is the main focus of the Ethics and Disciplinary Commission's 12-page ruling, was addressed to Curtain, copied to various officials including some at the IOC, and published openly.

It criticised Curtain for his "alliance" with Adamfi.

Agapitov said Curtain should not have communicated and discussed IWF issues relating to the Constitution with Adamfi when the Hungarian was "not a member of the weightlifting family".

The Ethics and Disciplinary Commission report said Agapitov "even threatened Mr Curtain with disciplinary action because he believed any association with the complainant (Adamfi) was tantamount to bringing the sport of weightlifting into disrepute".

Adamfi was in fact Hungary’s nominated delegate for the IWF Constitutional Congress, which was held two weeks after the letter was written, and had attended a Congress in June in that role.

The Ethics and Disciplinary Commission said Agapitov tried to persuade the Hungarian Weightlifting Federation (HWF) to "review its list of representatives", and found "both the tenor and language of the impugned letters to Mr Curtain and to the HWF amount to an abuse of office".

Agapitov claimed Adamfi was "repeatedly mentioned in a negative context" in the McLaren report, authored by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren, into Weightlifting Corruption in June 2020.

He also told the Ethics and Disciplinary Commission he always adhered to "the highest principles of integrity and honesty".

He sent out the letter "as a way of cleaning up the image of weightlifting".

Adamfi wrote to Agapitov in "shock and disgust" when the letter was published and submitted to the Ethics and Disciplinary Commission a copy of a letter he sent to McLaren to "debunk" some of its findings.

The Ethics and Disciplinary Commission pointed out that the McLaren report had no force of law and said the IWF had the authority to conduct further investigations and hearings involving those mentioned in the report – effectively a "mechanism of cleansing itself".

"The McLaren Report contains strong but rebuttable evidence which ought to be tested through an independent tribunal," the Commission said.

"To therefore use the contents of a report – however well written, however well detailed, however well intentioned – as if they were a decision of an adjudicatory body is tantamount to condemning someone unheard.

"If indeed (Agapitov) was concerned with 'cleaning up' the IWF, as he states, nothing would have been easier than to cause the McLaren Report to be subjected to disciplinary proceedings.

"It, therefore, offends public odium to treat the complainant (Adamfi) as if he was found guilty and/or sanctioned by an independent tribunal.

"Those adversely mentioned in the Report have not had an opportunity to defend themselves.

"(Agapitov) knows this very well… it is within his mandate to cause those mentioned in the Report to be subjected to an adjudicatory tribunal.

"In his defence (Agapitov) says that his main concern is cleansing the IWF of all past wrongs and that those who were involved in giving the sport a bad name should be excluded from any new governance roles.

"That sounds like a noble cause.

"However, we disagree with his approach.

"Being a member of the IWF Executive Board, he had and still has the opportunity to push for those named in the McLaren Report to be subjected to disciplinary hearings."

The Ethics and Disciplinary Commission found Agapitov had defamed Adamfi and that his YouTube video "constitutes a continuing defamation".

While it did not agree with Adamfi’s request to order an apology from Agapitov, the Ethics and Disciplinary Commission did find there were aggravating circumstances, and it ordered Agapitov to pay $7,000 to Adamfi as "compensation for reputational damage".