ESL set to reinstate doping tests at CS:GO events following 3-year hiatus

ESL will return to conducting doping tests at their CS:GO tournaments following a three-year hiatus.

Ulrich Schulze, senior vice president of game ecosystems at ESL FACEIT Group responded to Cloud9 nafany’s tweet about the lack of doping tests at CS:GO events. These were done regularly in pre-pandemic times and ESL aims to bring them back after they get the infrastructure needed to do so, Schulze announced in a tweet from March 9.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, doping tests were a natural procedure during CS:GO events. The organizers conducted them to make sure that players aren’t using any illegal drugs and supplements to enhance their on-stage performance.

It looks like many organizers backed off from that procedure, judging by nafany’s reveal that he never had them “at any LAN.” It makes sense that it stopped being a thing during the online era of CS:GO, yet, it should be coming back soon.

Moreover, some pros chimed in on the discussion on Twitter. Team Liquid’s EliGE pointed out that doping tests were “really common pre-COVID if you made it to the arena stage,” however, they haven’t been done since then, although other pros like Astralis’ blameF or ex-mOUZ’s Bymas shared that they did them during IEM Cologne 2022 playoffs.

Related: CS:GO European Pro League shuts down cheating allegations against Polish team

Either way, having more precautions during the biggest tournaments in the scene seems like a sensible thing to do. ESL is currently holding ESL Pro League Season 17 in Malta, so there’s a chance they return as soon as the playoffs.