IPF Agenda Proposals

In addition to proposal regarding performance of the bench press, bench shirts, and Rule 14.9, there are a number of other proposals (pdf) which will be considered at the October 14 IPF Congress meeting. There are three proposals to change the Constitution, six which address the By-Laws, eight for the Technical Rules, and three other proposals. The Constitution, By-Laws and Technical Rules can only changed if a 2/3 majority is reached.

Perhaps the most controversial of these remaining proposals is a subsection of Technical Rules proposal 1-1. This proposal will, if passed, serve to restructure weight classes. The proposal suggests eight or nine men's classes and seven or eight women's classes. The authoring country, Australia, cites the large number of weight classes as impacting the credibility of the IPF. Here's TR 1-1:

General Rules of Powerlifting -- Rules 4 & 5

1. Change Bodyweight Classes -- it is assumed that if BP shirt rules change there will be a Congress vote to change existing World Records for at least BP & Total, back to a new Standard. If so now is the time to resolve another issue impacting our credibility i.e. multiple bodyweight classes, unevenly distributed across the world population of lifters & resulting in some classes at Championships & Games which there are few competitors. Powerlifting has more classes than any other bodyweight sport & this will not be acceptable if we seek to enter major Games, present our Champions to governments, the public, etc.

Debate on this subject has been short-sighted & uninformed & the only hard data on this subject has been the study of the world's lifter population carried out at the time of formulation of the Wilks formula. Full data will not be presented here but the case can be well made for the following options-

Men -- 9 classes 58/64/70/77/85/94/105/120/120+
or 8 classes 58/64/71/79/88/100/115/115+

Women -- 8 classes 46/50/55/60/66/74/86/86+
or 7 classes 48/53/58/64/72/84/84+;

any combination can be chosen e.g.9+7, 8+ 7, etc.

2. Change Team Sizes Reason (i) If bodyweight classes are changed, team sizes should be adjusted accordingly e.g. if 9 men's classes team size is 9, if 7 women's classes team size is 7 & so on. "

Technical Rules Proposal 6 would extend the time in between flights from 15 to 20 minutes if there is only a single flight. Lifters have complained that 15 minutes is too short. The proposal:

Page 23, Order of Competition (Luxembourg)

If a lifting session consists of a single group, i.e. up to a maximum of 14 lifters, an interval of 15 20 minutes shall be allowed between the lifts. This is to ensure adequate time for warm up and platform organization. Reason: 15 minutes break is too short to make the warm up and to put the Bench Shirt on

Here are some of the other proposals:

Constitution Proposal 2:

New: 8.3.10 The IPF Executive Committee shall invite the Chair of the IF Committees / Commissions to the discussion of issues that fall within the competence of their particular Committee / Commissions.

By-Laws Proposal 1 and 2 address the newly formed Athletes Commission and Coach Commission. The proposals lay out the composition, function, duties, and responsibilities of the commissions.

By-Laws Proposal 5:

105.1 Non -discrimination in IPF Competition (Puerto Rico)

It must be add:

Sec A- Selection of the Jury. If there are three or more countries in an international competition, the Jury must be selected by random. The Jury can not composed by only one nation. The members of the Jury must be represented by the attending member federations, e.g. one jury member from every nation. (Refer existing Technical rule, page 31, Jury, item 3).

Sec. B-The same thing should apply to the referees

Sec. C- A lifter or coach or assistant coach, who participated on the same competition cannot be at the same time a member of the Jury and can not referee in the same meet.

Sec. D- If there are only two nation, then they will select the Jury by random.

Other proposals 1:

Wearing of start numbers (Germany) Herewith I put the proposal that the athletes wear for identification reasons small start numbers

Reasons
• By evaluation of film and picture as well as for a spectator it is often difficult to identify the athletes
• It is already carried out in almost all other kind of sports
• This will also a advantage for the press and media

Other Business:

Motion #1: (NAPF) Develop, adopt and implement an IPF Code of Ethics, modelled after the IOC Code of Ethics. Rationale: As an emerging and future IOC recognized sport, it will be essential and important for the IPF to play a significant role in the direction of powerlifting world-wide. As part of this development, a set of [core values] must be constituted that focuses on dignity, integrity, and respect for member federations officials, athletes, coaches, and referees. The IOC Code of Ethics shall provide the IPF with a framework of conduct for appropriate professional standards, laws, regulations and internal policies, and most importantly behaviour guidelines for officers of the IPF, and leaders of our