Scheduled to be held in Uzbekistan's capital of Tashkent, the elections are aa key step in implementing the governance reform which was adopted earlier this year, it is claimed by the IWF. 

The elections will see three athletes sit on the IWF Executive Board, as well as three athletes set to be full voting members of the IWF Congress.

"Thanks to the steps we have taken to adopt a new constitution and implement it, the IWF can say with certainty that athletes will be given a strong voice within IWF decision making and that there will be important new faces on the IWF Executive Board," said IWF Interim President Michael Irani. 

"I am deeply proud of the way we have been able to fully deliver on the expectations that the IWF would renew its governance, ensure clean weightlifting competition at the Tokyo 2020 and demonstrate a very different culture by having new faces on the Executive Board.

"I firmly believe that with these actions, the IWF will have secured weightlifting’s Olympic future."

Candidates for election to the Athletes Commission will be subject to the same strict eligibility criteria and verification procedures currently underway for the nominees submitted for election to the IWF Presidency, the IWF vice-presidency and IWF Executive Board membership. 

The IWF Electoral Congress is due to follow the World Championships on December 20 and 21 with the body set to elect its first permanent leader to replace disgraced Tamás Aján of Hungary.

In January 2020, Aján was the centre of a corruption scandal after an undercover documentary aired on German television which made serious allegations of financial malpractice and breaches of anti-doping procedures.

In June 2021, he was charged with complicity and tampering with multiple anti-doping rule violations by the International Testing Agency, along with other high ranking officials Romania's Nicu Vlad and Turkey's Hasan Akkus.