CAS Bans Pakistan Weightlifting Chief and Coach for Life Over Systemic Doping

Overview

• CAS’s anti-doping division issued lifetime bans to Hafiz Imran Butt and coach Irfan Butt for administering prohibited drugs to athletes, including minors.
• The sanctions bar both men from any role in activities run by organizations that follow the World Anti-Doping Code.
• Weightlifter Abubakar Ghani received a four-year suspension after a positive test for a Tamoxifen metabolite at the 2021 World Championships.
• CAS also found Ghani falsified medical prescriptions to explain the failed test, which counted as tampering under anti-doping rules.
• CAS said these confirmed violations could trigger new proceedings against the Pakistan Weightlifting Federation under IWF Article 12.3, which adds to the federation’s current one-year suspension and earlier moves by Pakistan’s sports board to sideline the two officials in November 2025.