Electronic Sports League to begin random drug tests

A participant plays a computer game during the Intel Friday Night Game, a competition of the ESL, Electronic Sports League, in Dresden, Germany. AP/Matthias Rietschel

LOS ANGELES — Drug testing is coming to e-sports.

The Electronic Sports League said Thursday it will begin randomly drug testing players at its competitive video game tournaments.

The e-sports organization plans to work with the World Anti-Doping Agency to create and enforce rules surrounding the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

The announcement came after a competitive video game player said in a YouTube video posted last week that he and his team used the drug Adderall during an ESL tournament in March.

The Cologne, Germany-based organization said the random drug tests would begin at its ESL One Cologne tournament in August.

Other e-sports organizations prohibit but don't test for doping.

The ESL was founded in 1997 and is the largest e-sports league with more than 5 million registered players.

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