Eligible athletes have until March 25 to apply for a place in the team, and the IWF has posted an advertisement for a manager-coach to take charge of training camps that will run from April until the athletes travel to Riyadh, where the World Championships are scheduled to run from September 2 to 17.

The plan is for three men and three women to be selected, all of whom must be "recognised as refugees or beneficiaries of international protection according to UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency", the IWF said.

Weightlifting becomes the third Olympic sport, after athletics and judo, to have its own refugee team.

It will be entirely separate from the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) refugee team that focuses only on competing at the Olympic Games.

The IWF has moved with impressive speed since the idea of creating a team for refugees was first raised last October by Florian Sperl, a Board member who is President of the German Weightlifting Federation.

"We achieved a lot in three months," said Sperl, who went on a fact-finding mission to Lausanne late last year to take advice from Gonzalo Barrio, project manager of the IOC refugee team.

Sperl drew up plans that gained unanimous Board approval at a meeting last month and after a get-together this week by a working group, the IWF has announced its plans and is looking for applicants for the team.

"It’s a big step for us and a big step for refugee weightlifters," said Sperl.

"There is a lot to be done yet but we already have a good programme.

"We will start with three and three (men and women) and see how it goes."

Cyrille Tchatchet, who was in the IOC refugee team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and now competes for Britain after gaining his passport, said: "This is the first step to something bigger, the chance to really welcome refugees into the international weightlifting family.

"I hope we progress in future as quickly as we have done in drawing up this policy.

"It would be great to see refugee athletes at other competitions, especially continental championships, and to see them winning medals.

"There are many practicalities to be sorted out, the most pressing of which is ensuring any eligible athletes are aware of their chance to apply for a place," said Tchatchet, who is on the IWF Athletes Commission and was involved in Sperl’s planning.

Other challenges will be finding a home and a training centre for the team, funding for athletes, and travel papers.

"We don’t really know how many refugee weightlifters there are around the world," said Tchatchet, who will use his social media to put out the message.

Other members of the working group, chaired by Sperl, are IWF vice-president Attila Adamfi, and members to be appointed by the Athletes Commission, Technical Committee and Coaching and Research Committee.

Mohammed Jalood, the IWF President, said: "In an ideal world, we shouldn’t have refugees, but as there are unfortunately very complicated situations around the globe, sport must also give an opportunity to those most affected by so many tragic circumstances.

"This is why we will build a solid programme around this theme, a programme that will certainly evolve with time."