New rules from eSports league ESL will match anti-doping policies of sporting bodies WADA and NADA, with saliva-based tests for players

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Professional gamers competing in events run by eSports body ESL are now banned from using marijuana during competitions, under the organisation’s new anti-doping policy.

ESL announced plans in July to introduce the policy, promising that it would be “fair, feasible and conclusive while also respecting the privacy of players”. Now it has published details of its plans.

In a post on Reddit, ESL’s head of communications Anna Rozwandowicz said that the body will match the list of prohibited substances compiled by German agency Nationale Anti-Doping Agentur (Nada) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada).

Players will be tested during competitions, with ESL opting for saliva-based tests for performance-enhancing drugs, rather than the PED skin tests that it was planning to use for tournaments, starting with its ESL One Cologne event this month.

“Upon further investigation and consultation with the authorities, we came to the conclusion that saliva tests are better fit,” wrote Rozwandowicz. “Tests will be performed at our discretion at any time during tournament days, and will take place in a designated testing area. Naturally, players’ privacy comes first.”

Players failing tests will face a range of sanctions, from losing prize money and tournament points to disqualifications and up to two-year bans from ESL events.

ESL is the largest eSports organisation, but its anti-doping policies have been up for debate since the admission earlier this year by one of its high-profile players, Kory ‘SEMPHIS’ Friesen, that he had used the Adderall drug during a competition.

Adderall is a stimulant usually prescribed to people diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, but it has also been used as a “cognitive enhancer” to aid alertness and concentration by athletes – including professional gamers.

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Some of ESL’s players may have legitimate prescriptions for Adderall and similar drugs, with Rozwandowicz saying that they will be able to compete – but must provide a doctor’s letter or other proof that they need it for medicinal purposes.

Perhaps anticipating a backlash to the fact that recreational drugs like marijuana are also banned under the new policy, she clarified the ESL’s approach to that drug in particular.

“Marijuana is on the list of prohibited substances during the competition. This means that recreational use of it outside (before) the event days will not be punished,” she wrote.

“Using it during the tournament – from the start of the first day until the end of the last day of competition – is strictly prohibited.”