WADA Hails Final Dismissal of Enhanced Games Lawsuit
The World Anti-Doping Agency released a statement on Thursday hailing the final dismissal of the anti-trust suit brought by the Enhanced Games.
The performance-enhancing-drug fueled sporting event had sued World Aquatics and USA Swimming under the allegation that anti-doping rules amounted to restraint of its trade. It sought injunctive relief and damages totaling $800 million.
The case was comprehensively dismissed by a United States district judge in New York in November, though he allowed a window of 30 days for the plaintiffs to amend their complaint. That window expired Thursday, reinforcing the dismissal of the case.
WADA released a statement marking the occasion, attributed to an organization spokesperson.
“WADA welcomes the decision and thanks the court for its early dismissal of this claim by the Enhanced Games. It vindicates the strong stance we have taken on this matter. WADA has the right – indeed the responsibility – to speak out against the Enhanced Games, an event that risks athletes’ health by encouraging them to take powerful, performance-enhancing drugs without therapeutic need.
“The beauty and popularity of sport is based on the ideal of clean and fair competition. These values must be protected. Athletes serve as role models, and we believe this event sends a dangerous message to young people around the world. This issue is uniting almost all Anti-Doping Organizations and governments worldwide. Our clean sport partners, including athletes, have joined us in strongly condemning the risks posed by this event.
“WADA calls on all governments and law enforcement agencies to assess whether athletes who take performance-enhancing drugs in this context – or the physicians who supply or administer those substances – may be in breach of criminal laws or professional rules, whether in their own countries or in the United States, where the event is scheduled to take place.”
The Enhanced Games specifically targeted a bylaw added by World Aquatics that increased discipline on anyone taking part in an event like the Enhanced Games, which sponsors technological and pharmaceutical doping for athletes. In its suit, the organization alleged that anti-doping rules prevented it from attracting contestants, positing clean sport as retraining its business opportunities.
District judge Jesse Furman roundly dismissed those claims last month. Given the vacuousness of the efforts to exact rent from the entire process, there proved to be no additional amending possible for any chance of winning, hence the case frittering away after the 30-day window.
The Enhanced Games, lest it sound like any more of a boondoggle, is also in the process of going public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger with the Hong Kong-based A Paradise Acquisition Corp.
