India could lose several of its spots in the weightlifting even at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, if the sport’s governing body has its way.
According to a report by Reuters, the International Wrestling Federation is prescribing to new rules which state that any nation with 10-19 doping violations from 2008 to 2020 will have just four places - two men and two women - at the 2020 Olympics.
India, who have won five weightlifting golds at the Commonwealth Games, is among nine other countries to fall into that category.
Meanwhile, Russia and five other nations will have only two places - one man and one woman - each at Tokyo due to their doping record which shows them to have more than 20 violations.
The report added that there could be further sanctions, including an outright ban from the Games, if further violations are committed by the countries in question before the Olympic qualifying period which ends in April 2020.
Countries with less that 10 violations will be rewarded with as many as eight spots, split equally between men and women. The policy has been approved by the International Olympic Committee, the report added.