Video gaming events and competitions are increasingly being organised across the globe with the prize pools and award money reaching new levels and in a bid to ensure that there is fairness and a level playing field for all participants, one of world’s largest and oldest esports organisation — ESL — has revealed its plans of enforcing guidelines on use of PEDs at video game competitions and events.
ESL has announced the initiation of key steps that the organisation will be taking so as to enforce guidelines and rules surrounding the use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) at ESL events.
For this purpose, the eports gaming organisation has partnered with NADA (the Nationale Anti Doping Agentur, which is headquartered in Bonn, Germany), and the two will collaborate to create an anti-PED policy that ensures fairness and is both feasible and conclusive and all the while protective of players’ privacy.
ESL will also be meeting with WADA (the World Anti Doping Agency, based in Montreal, Canada) so they can be actively involved in the making, enforcing and dissemination of this policy to additional regions such as the US, Asia and Australia.
The video game events organisation is banking on expertise of NADA and WADA to produce a PED prevention program that will encompass all players participating in competitions organized, hosted or produced by ESL. This program will help ensure that all players are provided with the information and structural support they need to help them manage the physical and emotional pressure of professional gaming.
By the time the guidelines and rules are put are formulated and enforced, ESL has announced some immediate actions it will be taking to ensure exemplary sportsmanship and integrity of its events. Staring with its One Cologne this August, the organisation will be administering the first PED skin tests.
ESL has revealed that it will be performing these tests at every Intel Extreme Masters, ESL One and ESL ESEA Pro League event as soon as the official PED policy is established and tournament rules updated accordingly.
All players and organisation involved with ESL competitions will be informed of the initiative’s progress. Players will be made aware of the changes to tournament rules including the list of banned substances, methods of testing and potential disciplinary actions for players caught using PEDs and/or admitting to having used them via their respective team managers and/or owners.
