site.btaSports Ministry Vows to Bail Weightlifters Out ahead of World Championships as Their Federation Grapples with Leadership Crisis

The Youth and Sports Ministry will finance the training and the participation of Bulgaria's top weightlifters in the IWF World Championships in Bahrain in early December as the Bulgarian Weightlifting Federation (BWF) is having leadership problems and the sport is suffering from underfunding at the national level. This transpired at a meeting Friday between Youth and Sports Minister Georgi Glushkov and national weightlifting team regulars.

The athletes told the minister about the difficulties they are facing. The BWF has not signed a contract with the Youth and Sports Ministry due to outstanding liabilities owed by the federation, and this has kept the national team from training normally. Glushkov assured the weightlifters that they will receive targeted funding via their clubs to help them give a worthy performance at the upcoming world championships.

The Minister was adamant that this is a temporary solution and should not become a regular practice.

He expressed his regret that the athletes are the main victims of the situation at the BWF over the last few months. He urged the federation leadership to deal with its problems and enable the ministry to arrive at a definitive funding solution.

Weightlifting brought two out of seven medals for Bulgaria at the Paris Olympics this summer. Karlos Nasar, who became Olympic champion at 89 kg, is Bulgaria's number one world title hopeful for Bahrain.