The dark side of the powerlifting community The Truth shall set you free.

The dark side of the powerlifting community The Truth shall set you free. IPL 2023 Drug Tested worlds 2023 Coventry England I am putting this in my own words of the findings and issues of the IPL Drug Tested Worlds. I was the Promoter and also the President of the British Powerlifting Federation and at the time Vice President to the IPL. I feel that the truth must be heard and how we felt at the time of our findings . It was Day 3 of the tournament . On that particular evening there was 4 of us at the start training in the warm up room which is kept locked and only I and some of the lifters and 1 USA Official was training that evening. We was on the other side and the USA Official was on the opposite side in the corner training on the Squat Combo Rack . This room was covered by the hotel CCTV. An hour had passed and I was having physio in the room , the USA Official had left the warm up room . As I finished 4 of my team members called myself over and an elderly gentleman had come across 2 bags of what looked like a white powder in little bags on the floor by the USA officials lifting belt. There was absolutely no one that had been in that corner other than the USA official and the drugs was with his weight lifting belt .In front of all the witnesses I actually told them I was going to see our Vice President to ask for advice because I had never ever come across anything like this before. Our Vice President immediately reported this to the Executive Board of the USPA / IPL and we had also sent pictures of the evidence. My Vice President immediately called the USA officials boss to investigate, our reason was because she worked directly for the company sponsor and was also an ex police women. As it stands we have never received the outcome of her investigation and I have sent emails also to the company CEO asking why have we not received the outcome. Literally the day after the meet I had a major heart attack, and while in intensive care my vice president gave our note to stop assisting the IPL as we had already agreed we would be leaving the IPL after the first day of the event and even Sat down with our team on the first day and made this decision Then within hours the head of IPL reported he was resigning me from my position why I lay in hospital he did not even speak to me about these issues. The most disappointing thing for me is that people at the top think this excepted behaviour even though it was taken to the board and the company director to resolve this issue. We had followed all procedures and the sad truth of it all is that the board was then terminated after what was reported to them so they could not take any further action. Looking back now I wish l had just called the Police . I actually feel very disappointed that we are a family run business and a child could have picked up those drugs left on the floor by the officials lifting belt .I also feel very let down as this is a drug tested meet and brought into our venue. It’s very saddening that this was found by an elderly man with his son, but the president the of IPL and then owner did not carry out an investigation or explanation or witness statements. I have always been honest and truthful and I would like to keep this sport safe for all what was we supposed to do with what was found say nothing because of the status of the IPL officer from the United States. Also why did his boss not get back to us just ignored us. I have worked for 12 years with the IPL and have always followed good ethics not once has the President spoken to me or asked me directly what had happened, and so the law gets broken and drugs are found along with the Officials lifting belt that was also left behind, this is not right or acceptable on any level . We will not tolerate this behaviour. I just feel that all our British members and IPL should know the truth of what happened. It has taken me sometime to come to terms with this but after 2 lots of heart surgery and endless treatment. I just want all to know the real truth , I am just glad that no kids was harmed and that the drugs was found by an person how know to report this. We at the BPF will always be truthful and take great pride on being honest , we are DBS checked and work with schools and colleges and the community. This is not something we wish to be a part off. I sincerely hope that somehow the new IPL President does the right thing and gets his house in order. We wish him the best of luck in rebuilding the IPL / USPA. WPU & BPF President Lord Marcus Griffiths