International Weightlifting Federation President Tamás Aján has warned Thailand they will have to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport if they want to be allowed to compete at this year's Southeast Asian Games ©IWF

International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) President Tamás Aján revealed he has urged the Thai Amateur Weightlifting Association (TAWA) to go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to allow them to decide if they can send a team to the 2019 Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines.

Last week, TAWA Honorary President Intarat Yodbangtoey claimed the Federation would find out yesterday if it would be possible, despite a self-imposed exile from its home IWF World Championships, which concluded here today, following multiple doping offences. 

Yodbangtoey, first vice-president of the IWF, revealed that TAWA had asked only to send its youth and junior athletes to participate in the event, due to take place from November 30 to December 11.

He also insisted it would be the "foundation of our next generation in weightlifting".

But speaking here today, Aján told insidethegames the IWF cannot take the decision and that TAWA's only possibility is to go to the Lausanne-based CAS.

"My proposal to them is go to the CAS," he said.

"Even this would be important to me. 

"To see how the professional judges value this situation."

Aján added that he does not know if TAWA will indeed go down that route. 

Rio 2016 Olympic gold medallist Sukanya Srisurat was among the nine members of Thailand's team who tested positive at last year’s IWF World Championships in Turkmenistan's capital Ashgabat ©Getty Images
Rio 2016 Olympic gold medallist Sukanya Srisurat was among the nine members of Thailand's team who tested positive at last year’s IWF World Championships in Turkmenistan's capital Ashgabat ©Getty Images

Thailand caused a major surprise last month by declaring that it wanted to compete at the 2019 IWF World Championships.

The country's hopes were swiftly doused by the IWF, which warned "no Thai athletes will be entitled to participate". 

Aján admitted it was very painful for him personally to not have the host nation represented at the sport's flagship event, but insisted the world governing body has to be "very strict".

Attendances at the venue were extremely low throughout the 10-day event.

"If Thai competitors participated in these World Championships, I am sure it would be completely full because many people would be coming," Aján told insidethegames.

At last year's IWF World Championships in Turkmenistan's capital Ashgabat, nine of Thailand's team tested positive, including two Olympic champions.

TAWA suspended itself from international competition in March, only to later change its mind and ask to send its athletes to take part in Pattaya and to have a chance to qualify for next year's Olympic Games in Tokyo. 

Of the nine members of Thailand's team who tested positive at Ashgabat 2018, three had won gold medals and two, Sukanya Srisurat and Sopita Tanasan, were Olympic champions at Rio 2016. 

Samples originally came up clean but when they were further tested at a laboratory in Cologne, the positives emerged.

News of the violations came out in stages, painting an ever worse picture for TAWA in December, January, February, when two athletes who had already been suspended came up positive again, and April.

By the time of the final suspension announced on April 4 - by which date Thailand had a total of 12 unresolved doping violations within a year - TAWA had suspended itself from international competition.