<header class="entry-header" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 29px; ">[h=1]Electronic Sports League Bans Anabolic Steroids and Human Growth Hormone[/h]</header>
The Germany-based Electronic Sports League (ESL) has officially ban the use of anabolic steroids and human growth hormone in all five million registered members who participate in competitive gaming. ESL is one of the oldest and largest organizations in the competitive sport of PC and console games.
ESL is not specifically trying to target who use steroids, hGH and peptides in order to build muscle and lose fat and otherwise improve their physical appearance. It has nothing against bodybuilders. Rather, the ESL is largely interesting in putting a stop to the rampant use of psychostimulants and “smart drugs” that has been giving eSports a lot of unwanted attention in the media.
Anna Rozwandowicz, the Head of Communications and Public Relations Director for ESL, announced the official adoption of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) list of prohibited substances in a statement posted on Reddit on August 12, 2015.
“There is a list of prohibited substances which was defined by WADA and NADA use,” said the ESL statement. “We are going to refer to this list to establish what is forbidden to use at our events. This means that no player should take drugs/medication that contain ingredients from this list, as this may cause them turning in positive tests results.”
Rozwandowicz was immediately questioned and criticized for the seemingly excessive number of drugs included on the prohibited list. She was especially criticized for prohibiting the use of anabolic steroids and other muscle-building drugs that are included on the WADA list.
Rozwandowicz recognized that many of the performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) included on the WADA list have no relevance for eSports performance. She did not rule out the possibility of removing many of the drugs to create an eSports-specific banned substance list just for ESL.
“We’re at the beginning of this process and WADA’s list is a good place to start,” according to Rozwandowicz. “We’re not excluding the possibility of making an esports-specific list, however that is something we will look into when we’re further down the road.”
But for now, steroids are a big no-no among competitive gamers playing Halo, Battlefield, Counter-Strike, Call of Duty or any other game in an ESL sanctioned tournament.
It should be noted that just because ESL is adopting the WADA list of prohibited substances, it most definitely does not mean ESL is adopting any other aspect of the WADA code and its “gold standard” of testing.
For example, rather than comprehensive urine and blood serum tests, ESL only plans on using random saliva tests to catch members who are using banned substances. Saliva tests are not used by sports that strictly follow the WADA code for a very good reason – they are not very reliable.
In addition, ESL has decided to avoid following WADA’s procedures when it comes to granting therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs). WADA requires extensive medical documentation and substantiation before it would grant a TUE.
By contrast, ESL only requires a doctor’s note (and prescription) before it gives competitive gamers permission to use prohibited drugs. Most young people know how easy it is to score a prescription for smart drugs like Adderall (amphetamine and dextroamphetamine combination) and Provigil (modafinil). Most bodybuilders know how easy it is to convince a doctor to prescribe testosterone replacement therapy (TRT).
“We won’t question the legitimacy of medical prescriptions, but that will change in obvious cases when we notice unusual patterns,” explained Rozwandowicz.
So far, ESL is approaching the doping issue as a PR problem rather than a medical or scientific issue. ESL has rushed to adopt a more stringent anti-doping policy as a clear knee-jerk reaction to the bad publicity arising from the comments of ESL professional gamer and former Cloud9 player Kory “Semphis” Friesen.
Friesen admitted using Adderall and indicated that his former Cloud9 teammates and many other players on he elite circuit did the same thing. Apparently, Adderall and Ritalin use was so well-accepted that Friesen’s comments caused little reaction from other gamers.
However, now that ESL has adopted the WADA list of prohibited substances, the 5 million registered members of ESL aren’t too happy about Friesen letting the cat out of the bag.
The Germany-based Electronic Sports League (ESL) has officially ban the use of anabolic steroids and human growth hormone in all five million registered members who participate in competitive gaming. ESL is one of the oldest and largest organizations in the competitive sport of PC and console games.
ESL is not specifically trying to target who use steroids, hGH and peptides in order to build muscle and lose fat and otherwise improve their physical appearance. It has nothing against bodybuilders. Rather, the ESL is largely interesting in putting a stop to the rampant use of psychostimulants and “smart drugs” that has been giving eSports a lot of unwanted attention in the media.
Anna Rozwandowicz, the Head of Communications and Public Relations Director for ESL, announced the official adoption of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) list of prohibited substances in a statement posted on Reddit on August 12, 2015.
“There is a list of prohibited substances which was defined by WADA and NADA use,” said the ESL statement. “We are going to refer to this list to establish what is forbidden to use at our events. This means that no player should take drugs/medication that contain ingredients from this list, as this may cause them turning in positive tests results.”
Rozwandowicz was immediately questioned and criticized for the seemingly excessive number of drugs included on the prohibited list. She was especially criticized for prohibiting the use of anabolic steroids and other muscle-building drugs that are included on the WADA list.
Rozwandowicz recognized that many of the performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) included on the WADA list have no relevance for eSports performance. She did not rule out the possibility of removing many of the drugs to create an eSports-specific banned substance list just for ESL.
“We’re at the beginning of this process and WADA’s list is a good place to start,” according to Rozwandowicz. “We’re not excluding the possibility of making an esports-specific list, however that is something we will look into when we’re further down the road.”
But for now, steroids are a big no-no among competitive gamers playing Halo, Battlefield, Counter-Strike, Call of Duty or any other game in an ESL sanctioned tournament.
It should be noted that just because ESL is adopting the WADA list of prohibited substances, it most definitely does not mean ESL is adopting any other aspect of the WADA code and its “gold standard” of testing.
For example, rather than comprehensive urine and blood serum tests, ESL only plans on using random saliva tests to catch members who are using banned substances. Saliva tests are not used by sports that strictly follow the WADA code for a very good reason – they are not very reliable.
In addition, ESL has decided to avoid following WADA’s procedures when it comes to granting therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs). WADA requires extensive medical documentation and substantiation before it would grant a TUE.
By contrast, ESL only requires a doctor’s note (and prescription) before it gives competitive gamers permission to use prohibited drugs. Most young people know how easy it is to score a prescription for smart drugs like Adderall (amphetamine and dextroamphetamine combination) and Provigil (modafinil). Most bodybuilders know how easy it is to convince a doctor to prescribe testosterone replacement therapy (TRT).
“We won’t question the legitimacy of medical prescriptions, but that will change in obvious cases when we notice unusual patterns,” explained Rozwandowicz.
So far, ESL is approaching the doping issue as a PR problem rather than a medical or scientific issue. ESL has rushed to adopt a more stringent anti-doping policy as a clear knee-jerk reaction to the bad publicity arising from the comments of ESL professional gamer and former Cloud9 player Kory “Semphis” Friesen.
Friesen admitted using Adderall and indicated that his former Cloud9 teammates and many other players on he elite circuit did the same thing. Apparently, Adderall and Ritalin use was so well-accepted that Friesen’s comments caused little reaction from other gamers.
However, now that ESL has adopted the WADA list of prohibited substances, the 5 million registered members of ESL aren’t too happy about Friesen letting the cat out of the bag.
