Enhanced Games Ignite Debate Over Young Athletes' Safety and Fair Competition

The Enhanced Games, allowing athletes to use banned substances with medical oversight, have sparked criticism from major sports bodies like FIMS, IOC, and WADA. FIMS President Fabio Pigozzi warns of potential exploitation and health risks for young athletes, despite assurances of rigorous health testing by Enhanced Games President Aron D'Souza.

Young athletes could be exploited if the Enhanced Games are allowed to go ahead, International Federation of Sports Medicine (FIMS) President Fabio Pigozzi said.

The Enhanced Games would allow athletes to use pharmacological or technological assistance, including substances banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The concept has been met with widespread criticism, with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), WADA and World Athletics having denounced the proposed competition.

Enhanced Games President Aron D'Souza has said, however, that the competition would conduct rigorous health testing. FIMS said it welcomed the decision by Enhanced Games to conduct medical screening but warned that current technology could not ensure the safety of athletes or mitigate the health hazards of many banned substances.

In a statement published on Friday in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, Pigozzi said FIMS's priority was to safeguard "scientific analysis, study of the physical condition of the individual, and protection of health". "These principles are incongruent with the current philosophy and mission of the Enhanced Games," Pigozzi said.

"The grave concern of FIMS is that young individuals will be exploited in the quest for fame and fortune and the allure of the Enhanced Games." FIMS also suggested that Enhanced Games could unwittingly help in the fight against doping in sport by bringing doping "into the open" and helping researchers to better understand the life cycle and effects of different substances.

Enhanced Games President D'Souza said FIMS and the Enhanced Games shared many of the same objectives. "The title of their article 'We want healthy athletes and fair competition' aligns completely with the ethos of the Enhanced Games," D'Souza told Reuters in an email.

"The Enhanced Games is advancing healthy athletes by taking performance enhancements out of the darkness and into clinical supervision."

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