The President of the Russian Weightlifting Federation was reprimanded by the Commission in December 2021 and ordered to pay $7,000 (£5,589/€6,526) to Attila Adamfi, who was elected last June as an IWF Vice-President for "reputational damage".

After Agapitov challenged that decision, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has ruled in his favour, his lawyers have announced.

No details have been released by CAS while parties are given time to study the findings, but lawyers Clover Consult claimed victory on their website in "defeating the lawyers of Attila Adamfi, son-in-law of the (former) IWF President Tamas Ajan… a victory of great importance for the entire sports community".

The long-running dispute between Agapitov and Adamfi dates back to the period after the publication of the McLaren Report into corruption in weightlifting in 2020, the findings of which led to the resignation of Ajan as IWF President.

A second part of the report was never made public because it was not robust against legal challenge.

Adamfi has always denied being "implicated" in the McLaren Report, while Agapitov claims he was part of Ajan’s "inner circle".

When Agapitov attacked the British IWF Board member Matthew Curtain and Adamfi in an open letter, published on the European Weightlifting Federation (EWF) website in August 2021, it led to the Russian losing the interim Presidency of the continental body.

A few weeks after the open letter was published, the EWF Congress took a vote of no confidence in Agapitov, and two months later the Ethics Commission ruled against him, saying he had taken "a dangerous trajectory" and his behaviour amounted to an abuse of office.

Agapitov had also posted a video on YouTube, titled Say No Doping, Save Weightlifting, which focused briefly on Adamfi.

Lawyers representing the IWF asked for more time to study the court decision, and the IWF did not wish to comment on the CAS verdict.

Adamfi said, "Naturally I’m surprised and disappointed that the IWF Ethics and Disciplinary Commission's decision is set aside.

"As a disciplined man I respect the CAS decision, as I always abide by the rules and I consider this issue closed.

"We have much more important tasks in front of us, like safeguarding the Olympic future of our sport, that we owe to our athletes, especially the next generation of athletes.

"The IWF Congress made a decision in 2022 by electing people they trust, and I will tirelessly work with my colleagues to achieve our goals."