Over the past four years from 2014 to 2017, Armenian weightlifters have in total taken 1000-1200 doping tests organized by international anti-doping organizations. During this period, no violation of anti-doping rules was recorded, Secretary General of the Weightlifting Federation of Armenia Pashik Alaverdyan said.

Armenia was among nine countries suspended from weightlifting for a year on September 30 in an attempt to combat an epidemic of doping.

"Given this circumstance, it is possible that the term of sanctions applied against us will be reduced to six months, and the Armenian team (maybe one or two more countries) will be able to participate in the European Championships in the spring of 2018," Alaverdyan said.

"Officially, the term of our disqualification expires on April 19, after which the Armenian weightlifters can participate in official competitions of all age groups."