Culling the Damage: ESL to Create anti-PED eSports Policy with NADA Support

Published: July 23, 2015 12:41 PM /

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Recently, it has come to the attention of the eSports community that there has been abuse of drugs such as Adderall in high levels of competition within competitive eSports. Admissions of former eSports players regarding the use of the drug to help improve concentration during matches have come out, and it looks like the ESL has had enough. Citing the growing visibility and popularity of eSports, the ESL has partnered with NADA, the Nationale Anti Doping Agentur, to help research and determine an anti-PED policy that not only respects the privacy of players, but provide conclusive testing results. In addition, the ESL will meet with the World Anti Doping Agency to help make and enforce this policy to places around the world, in particular within the United States, Asia, and Australia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFMY5RQxCpw#t=7m44s

The ESL wants to use the expertise of both the NADA and WADA to help create a program that will prevent the use of PEDs within the eSports world, and will be applied to any of the competitions that they organize, host, or produce. As stated by Anna Rozwandowicz within the press release: "The goal of this program is to ensure players are provided with information and structural support to help them manage the physical and emotional pressure that the highest level of competitive gaming puts on many of them."

These small pills are one of the sources of the controversy
These small pills are one of the sources of the controversy

Specifically, there seems to be a target date on the tests on top of the action taken here. For the ESL One Cologne (which claims to be the biggest Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament) event that will happen in August, the ESL will be performing the first randomized PEDs skin test. But the tests won't stop there, as they plan on performing the tests in future events such as the Intel Extreme Masters, ESL One, and ESL ESEA Pro League competitions.

For those in the leagues or in competitive play, the ESL will be reaching out to those respective team managers with updates on changes in the tournament rules, and will include a list of banned substances, the methods of testing, and the disciplinary actions if caught violating the new policies.

The eSports seen will now be under more of a watchful eye for performance enhancing drugs.
The eSports seen will now be under more of a watchful eye for performance enhancing drugs.

Will this bring needed stability to the ever growing eSports scene, or is it just a policy that will be worked around? What do you think of the strong reaction of the ESL to the latest information regarding the eSports community, and do you think they were aware of the problems?

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Shaun Joy TechRaptor
| Former Video Lead

YouTuber Dragnix who plays way too many games, and has a degree in Software Engineering. A Focus on disclosure on Youtubers, and gaming coverage in general… More about Shaun