CPL to Drug Test Cyberathletes
December 8, 2006
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Angel Munoz, founder and president of the Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL), says that the gaming company will start testing contestants for drug use at its events starting next year. As Munoz explains, drugs “should concern anybody in e-sports, because as the stakes get larger, as in any sport, people will look for an edge.” Such measures are sure to rock the e-sporting world to its very core, no doubt.
With drugs like Ritalin appearing as un-prescribed “smart drugs” in U.S. schools, performance enhancing substances are no longer uniformly identified with bulging muscles and heart valve damage. Today, illicit compounds like crystal meth could be used in a misguided attempt to enhance reflexes and postpone the effects of mental fatigue.
Preemptive and random drug testing procedures aren’t in the plans, at least not yet, but the newly drafted changes to the CPL’s operating policies are meant to give the group some latitude when dealing with accusations. “It hasn’t been an issue yet. None of the top players I know have ever been accused of drug use or anything like that,” said Munoz. “But we want to reserve the right to test people, in case there’s an accusation or indications that someone might be using a performance-enhancing substance.”
