Russia was announced as hosts of the event on October 19, the same day its one-year suspension from weightlifting expired.

Maxim Agapitov, President of the Russian Weightlifting Federation, hailed the decision to award the Championships to Moscow, which has not held them since 1983.

It will be the first time the Championships have taken place in Russia since 2011, when they were staged in Kazan, but the decision has attracted criticism, especially as it coincided with the day that Russia's one-year ban was lifted.

Speaking to insidethegames during 2018 IWF World Championships in Turkmenistan's capital, where Russia’s top weightlifters are taking part, Urso described the decision of the EWF Executive Board was a "normal" one.

"Russia is beginning to compete again," the Italian said.

"I think it’s necessary to give to Russian Federation, and not only the Russian Federation, the opportunity to come back again in weightlifting with completely new organisational strategies and innovation.

"This is an occasion to demonstrate that something is changing.

"My philosophy is not to close the door, my philosophy is to open the door.

"Included in the opening of the door is the structure, a new culture and the idea and desire to change something.

"Russia is demonstrating today that something is now changing and something will change in the future.

"This is the support of the European Federation to help them to change and to demonstrate to them what is possible."

Russia was among nine nations - along with China, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Moldova and Turkey - banned last year by the IWF for having multiple positives in the re-testing of doping samples from the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympic Games. 

The country, which had already been suspended from the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, missed last year's IWF World Championships in Anaheim in California.

Last December, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) outlined four requirements the IWF needs to meet to stay on the Olympic programme beyond Tokyo 2020 amid countless doping problems.

These are the full implementation of the recommendations from the Independent Clean Sport Commission and the Sport Programme Commission, the completion of the World Anti-Doping Agency code compliance monitoring programme and the submission of a questionnaire report on corrective actions.

The IWF delivered a report to the IOC in June detailing how it had met the criteria and now has to wait until the IOC Executive Board convenes for its meeting in Tokyo from November 30 to December 2 for a further update on its situation.

Earlier this week, IWF President Tamás Aján told insidethegames that he is confident the sport has done enough to combat doping to ensure its threatened place at the Olympics. 

Looking ahead to the future, Urso, who in June 2017 criticised those in charge of the sport after the IOC gave them the December deadline to address "massive" doping problems, said he thinks weightlifting has really big potential.

"We needed to innovate something in the competitions, we needed to have the competitions more spectacular because it’s possible," he told insidethegames.

"We need to take things step by step to think about the future.

"The future is today and today it is necessary to think of what is possible to do after Tokyo [2020], after Paris [2024] and after Los Angeles [2028].

"It’s time to change something and I think the International Federation should be the best in this way."

Urso stood unsuccessfully to replace Aján as IWF President at an Electoral Congress in Bangkok in May 2017.