The European Weightlifting Federation -EWF- has taken a new step in its European institutional agenda after formalising its status as a new partner of the European Olympic Committees -EOC- EU Office. The alliance took shape on Monday, March 9, when Vice President Stian Grimseth and Technical Committee member Denise Offermann visited the office’s headquarters in Brussels for a meeting focused on exploring funding, training and cooperation tools for weightlifting within the European framework.

The move goes beyond a protocol visit. The EOC EU Office presented the EWF delegation with its network of direct cooperation with European institutions and the work it is already carrying out through projects funded by the European Union -EU-, particularly under Erasmus+ Sport. For the continental federation, the agreement opens a more structured path to connect weightlifting with initiatives linked to governance, inclusion, awareness and organisational development.

More weight in Brussels

Speaking to SportsIn, Dr. Astrit Hasani, President of the EWF, placed the alliance on a clearly political and institutional level. “This collaboration represents a new chapter for weightlifting in Europe, centred on growth, innovation and a stronger projection of our sport within the European Union,” he said. From that perspective, the federation sees the agreement not only as a gateway to funding, but also as a way to strengthen its position within the continental sports ecosystem and the Olympic Movement.

That reading matches what the EOC EU Office itself conveyed during the meeting. As it explained to the EWF delegation, it has developed a number of tools through its Erasmus+ Sport projects to help sports organisations improve awareness, inclusion and governance, while also making access to European funding easier for grassroots bodies and smaller organisations. Hasani stressed that the federation shares with the EOC “the commitment to strengthen cooperation and to continue consolidating weightlifting’s position within the Olympic Movement, for the benefit of athletes, coaches and everyone dedicated to this sport across Europe”, a line that gives meaning to an alliance designed to go beyond simple institutional representation.

Erasmus+ and new pathways

One of the most relevant aspects of the meeting was its practical dimension. The EOC Office will be responsible for working on and managing any future EWF application, within a system that, according to what was explained in Brussels, offers fairer application mechanisms, clearer evaluation criteria and, as a result, better chances of success for projects submitted through that structure. Added to that will be specific training so that European weightlifting can learn how to prepare Erasmus+ funding applications correctly.

The broader intention is for the EWF itself to be able in future to rely on staff trained to deal directly with the EU, always in cooperation with the EOC Office. At the same time, the meeting also clarified what kinds of initiatives can be supported. The European Union does not fund competitions themselves, but it can support everything around a championship or event: volunteer programmes, school visits to competitions, training camps and seminars on Women in Sport, athlete safeguarding, inclusion or new training modules linked to strength sports.

From the European level to the national one

The scope of the alliance does not stop at the continental level. Another element the EWF considers especially important is that the EU provides annual funding to each European nation for grassroots organisations and smaller national bodies. The federation will now receive the contacts for EU member countries with the aim of sharing them with national weightlifting federations, so that direct applications at national level can also be explored.

That approach explains why the EWF leadership wanted to give the initiative a clearly defined internal structure from the outset. Speaking to SportsIn, Astrit Hasani stressed: “The EWF, and I personally, consider this collaboration with the EOC to be of great importance”. He added that “by decision of the Executive Board -EB-, our Vice President Stian Grimseth and Denise Offermann, a member of the Technical Committee, have been appointed as project coordinators”, a designation through which the federation wants to reflect “the special importance” it attaches to the success of this new phase. The EWF is already working with the aim of submitting its first joint EWF-EOC/EU application before the summer of 2026.