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Yodbangtoey had replaced American Ursula
Papandrea in the role after an emergency meeting of the
executive board on Tuesday.
The IWF, whose future as an Olympic sport is at risk, said Irani,
chair of the medical committee and former chair of the
anti-doping commission, was appointed interim president on
Thursday.
"I do not intend to stand as a candidate for the IWF President
position in the future, so I will be able to focus fully on the
reforms leading up to a clear and transparent IWF Congress,"
said Irani, 71, in a statement.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Wednesday it
was 'very worried' by the replacement of Papandrea, the way the
decision had been taken and the chosen replacement.
USA Weightlifting and Britain's BWL governing body issued strong
statements after Yodbangtoey's appointment, accusing the IWF
board of blocking reform.
The Americans called for an extraordinary congress to be
convened by the end of November while the BWL said the executive
board should stand down immediately.
The http://www.insidethegames.biz website reported that Antonio
Urso, president of the European Weightlifting Federation (EWF),
had resigned from the board in protest after Irani's
appointment.
"I no longer share the political line of this Board, which seems
to me crazy and destructive of the future of world
weightlifting," it quoted him as saying.
The sport, rocked by revelations of doping cover-ups and decades
of corruption, was warned by the IOC in June that it risks being
cut from the Paris 2024 Olympics and subsequent Games.
The IWF board elected Papandrea in January after 81-year-old
president Tamas Ajan, a Hungarian, stepped aside during a
corruption probe.
Ajan, who eventually resigned in April, had been at the IWF
since 1976, serving 24 years as general secretary and 20 as
president.
Richard McLaren, the Canadian law professor whose findings in
July 2016 led to Russia being banned from all international
athletic competitions, including the Rio Olympics, told
reporters in June that the IWF was rife with corruption.
This included vote buying, doping cover-ups and $10.4 million in
cash that cannot be accounted for. Ajan denied any wrongdoing.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Christian Radnedge)
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