The International Powerlifting Federation’s Annual General Meeting took place on 14th June 2023 at the Intercontinental Hotel in St Julian’s, Malta. For the first time, this was held as a hybrid AGM – representatives of 41 countries were present in person and 21 representatives joined the meeting online.
The agenda covered the Executive Committee reports, Commission reports and financial reports as well as financial statements and auditor statements and their approval. We also had elections of the Executive Committee senior positions - President, Vice President, Secretary General and Treasurer.
All candidates were the current position holders and there were no candidates running against them. All candidates were re-elected with a large majority of votes which shows a big trust in their work.
In addition, the AGM also ratified the regional representatives on the board and the appointed committee chairs and members were also present at the AGM.
The new board consists of the following members:
President: Gaston Parage (LUX)
Vice President: Sigurjon Petursson (ISL)
Secretary General: Robert Keller (USA)
Treasurer: Dietmar Wolf: (NOR)
Board Member Europe: Bjorn Astad (NOR) New
Board Member Asia: Farshid Soltani (IRI)
Board Member Africa: Heather Leighton (RSA)
Board Member South America: Julio Conrado (BRA) New
Board Member North America: Hugo Valasquez (CRC) New
Male Athlete Speaker: Pjotr van den Hoek (NED)
Female Athlete Speaker: Tetiana Melnyk (UKR)
Technical Committee Chair: Johan Smith (RSA)
Youth Commission Chair: Nadezhda Churilova (RUS)
Women’s Commission Chair: Tatiana Romanova (KGZ)
Medical Commission Chair: Wing-Yuk Ip (HKG)
The IPF welcomed Mr Stephan Fox, President of AIMS, as a keynote speaker. Mr Fox emphasised the important role of the IPF in AIMS and that our federation deserves the IOC recognition.
During the AGM it was announced that, at the World Games 2025, the IPF will be present with both classic and equipped powerlifting. This change means that the number of lifters will be increased to 128 and the medal events from 8 to 16. This will give our sport an additional boost.
We also welcomed two representatives from the International World Games Association: Deputy CEO, Guillaume Felli, and Sports Director, Sebastian Garvens. Mr Garvens explained to the AGM the procedure within IWGA and pointed out that, because of the improvements in the sport of powerlifting over the last 4 editions of The World Games, the Executive Committee decided to grant the IPF the additional format.
The IPF also announced a prolongation of the cooperation with Eurosport and, during the AGM, IPF President, Gaston Parage, and Eurosport Senior Sales Manager, Samuel Bencteux, signed a 6 year deal. This grants the IPF the opportunity to broadcast the Classic Powerlifting World Championships and the Equipped Powerlifting World Championships over the next 6 years and, from 2025 onwards, the European Classic Powerlifting Championships will also be broadcast for 4 years.
Finally, the IPF welcomed Mr Gabor Deregan, Managing Director from the International Fair Play Committee. Mr Deregan presented to the IPF AGM the mission and vision of the International Fair Play Committee and it was agreed that the IPF would establish an IPF Fair Play Commission.
IPF Annual General Assembly 2023
