Hanoi (VNA) - Thailand has voluntarily banned its weightlifters from the 2020 TokyoOlympics and all other international competitions because of its recent doping scandalbut will still host the 2019 World Championships, the InternationalWeightlifting Federation (IWF) said on March 8.

Theself-imposed ban also means Thailand will still organise the worldchampionships in Pattaya in September without the participation of Thaicompetitors.

The decisioncame after six Thai weightlifters tested positive for banned substances at theWorld Championships in November 2018, including doping cases against threewomen who won world titles.

Among theeight lifters facing bans are Sopita Tanasan and Sukanya Srisurat, who wonThailand's two weightlifting gold medals at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

Thailand is atraditional power in weightlifting, especially in the lighter classes, and theIWF said the cases have potential consequences that seriously damage theintegrity of the sport.

Dozens ofweightlifters who competed at the last three Olympics have later testedpositive. Russia and China were among nine countries banned from internationalcompetitions for a year in 2017 after racking up numerous doping cases.

Russia andBulgaria also missed the 2016 Olympics over doping, and countries with majordrug problems will have fewer qualifying place for next year's games in Tokyo.-VNA