Venezuela faces a loss of Olympic Weightlifting quota places because of multiple doping offences; with a new doping case bringing to 10.
Jeyson Mosquera, who won three 102 kilograms competitions last year, including the South American Championships, has been provisionally suspended after testing positive for hormone and metabolic modulators.
When all current doping cases are dealt with – many are still being processed by the International Testing Agency (ITA) – 20 nations or more could be either banned outright or unable to send full teams to Tokyo 2020 because of doping.
Nine Venezuelan weightlifters were suspended for doping between 2009 and 2017.
If the case of Mosquera, 27, is closed as expected it will take Venezuela to 10 and a restricted quota of two men and two women will apply.
Nations with fewer than 10 positives in the period since the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games can send a maximum team of eight to Tokyo, split equally between men and women.
Those with 10 to 19 violations have half that number, while those with 20 or more can send only one male and one female.
The list of nations with restricted quotas has been updated this month by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), which is under close scrutiny by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) because of its doping record, a corruption scandal and perceived governance problems.
