Latest update February 6th, 2025 7:27 AM
Shewdas not paying GAPF fine
– Grandfather says positive test was “concocted”
By Edison Jefford
Gumendra Shewdas’s grandfather, Chanderpaul Shewdas, believes the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) tests that revealed banned substances, Methylhexaneamine and Oxilofrine in his grandson’s system was “concocted” and thus fallacious.
The elder Shewdas was named as the individual who had given the powerlifter pills to treat nasal congestion that may have contained the banned substances that led to him being banned from the sport for two years and a $2000 Euros fine imposed on the local federation.
The Guyana Amateur Powerlifting Federation (GAPF) had indicated that
SUPPORT! Gumendra Shewdas (centre, with medals) and his grandfather Chanderpaul Shewdas (on his right) pose with family members that also included Shewdas’ parents, at the Total Fitness Gym Tuesday at Line Path, Skeldon, East Berbice.
Shewdas will be asked to pay the fine the federation incurred as a result of the positive test after this newspaper had reported that monies received during doping periods are usually returned.
“We nah give back to the federation; the federation nah give him nothing; we would give back to the other (organisations) in Georgetown and the rest of people, but Gumendra nah pay no fine he is innocent,” the grandfather stated during an interview.
He was at the time speaking at the Shewdas family home at Line Path, Skeldon, East Berbice on Tuesday during an interview with Capitol News and NCN, which facilitated questions from this writer.
The elder Shewdas, who was named as the source of the Geranium 20, the pill Shewdas ingested, took the federation to task for not protecting Shewdas enough and failing to communicate what’s definitely become a serious matter, sufficiently with the family.
He said that Shewdas will return the monetary gifts he received as part of winning the world title once the various organisations ask him to do so. However, he made it clear that Shewdas will not be giving the local federation anything.
“They should’ve first come out, reach people; reach out and tell us what is going on; they should have ensured a local scientist go to Germany to certify that it is Shewdas urine, then we would have accepted that he (Shewdas) had drugs in his urine,” the grandfather said
While admitting to giving Shewdas pills to treat a cold, Chanderpaul is contending that his grandson was subjected to a test that had no local supervision. He said that the IPF alone was privy to the testing process and as such the results are invalid.
“I feel this whole powerlifting test was concocted. I don’t believe that what they did in Germany is Gumendra Shewdas urine because there was no other witness in this world to witness that this is Gumendra Shewdas urine,” the grandfather said.
Shewdas had won a gold medal in the 53kg class at the World Junior and sub-Junior Powerlifting Championships in Killeen, Texas in August last year. However, an in-competition test confirmed the presence of the banned substances in his system.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) tested Shewdas’s (A) sample urine at its accredited Lab in Cologne, Germany. Asked why he did not have Shewdas’s ‘B’ sample tested to vindicate his claim, Shewdas’s grandfather said they could not afford it.
“Why do a B sample (test) when we know Gumendra Shewdas nah use drugs? He nah use drugs, he don’t drink alcohol, he don’t walk late in the night. What they come out with is hard for me to believe cause we know he don’t use drugs. I will not believe that until I die,” the grandfather told the media.
Shewdas was offered to have his ‘B’ sample tested but refused, instead he opted to waive that right; IPF therefore concluded that he was in concurrence with the initial results. His grandfather believes it was a setup; “they concoct it,” he repeated when asked the question.
Chanderpaul Shewdas informed that the controversy is not affecting the family because Shewdas medal cannot put food on their table. “This (medal) is not something eternal, they come and they go and this world champion came and he gone; this is not affecting us; this don’t put food on the table or money in the bank; titles don’t full your belly,” he observed.
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