The  28-year-old athlete will be disqualified for life if the charges are confirmed, Offsideplus.az reports. The reason is that he has previously been punished for a positive doping test. According to the rules, an athlete who fails the test for the second time is subject to disqualification for 8 years or life.

The International Doping and Testing Agency (ITA) suspended Rahimov during the investigation.

The experienced weightlifter left the Azerbaijani national team in 2014 and became a citizen of Kazakhstan. He became the world champion the following year and the winner of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics.