One of Ghana’s medal hopefuls at the ongoing Birmingham Games, Shakul Samed, cuts a vastly devastated figure – following his suspension from the event, after testing positive for a banned substance.
The light heavyweight boxer, nicknamed the ‘Sharp Shooter’ is said to have been deflated by the Commonwealth Games Federation Anti-doping and Medical Commission’s decision to expel him from Birmingham after the test – sample A of which was found to contain the banned diuretic and masking agent Furosemide.
“He’s down and has been crying all day after hearing the news. He’s simply inconsolable. We’re all shocked ourselves because we don’t know what really happened,” says one of his teammates who prefers to remain anonymous.
Back home, the shamed boxer’s elder brother Bastir Samir, told the Times Sports at the weekend that the family was equally distraught on hearing the news.
“The entire family is still in grave shock. My dad is devastated. In fact, everybody in the family as well as friends is wrecked. We were so sure he was going to come back with a medal; not an agonizing news of his suspension,” added Samir – himself an undefeated Ghanaian light heavyweight boxer.
Samed, who competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, was scheduled to face Luc Jean Rosalba last Friday but did not show up for the weigh in. As of press time yesterday, the boxer has been asked to leave the team’s village “with immediate effect” and is on his way home.
“He will now have the opportunity to provide further information, including requesting analysis of his B sample, before any charge is issued,” a Commonwealth Games statement has said.
The ‘Sharp Shooter’ could not be reached for comment, whilst the Ghana Boxing Federation (GBF) is tight-lipped on the issue for now, insisting that “we shall respond at the appropriate time.”
According to the GBF President, Ben Quartey, “there is so much noise in the media in respect to what happened.”
“It is part of the game. The guy does not know what he has done. We’re managing the situation because we do not want any of the boxers to be affected. At the moment, we want to concentrate on the rest of the boxers and psyche them up to win the rest of fights and make Ghanaians happy.
“We’re promising Ghanaians that we would bring medals,” Quartey assured.
BY JOHN VIGAH
