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The Enhanced Games, an upcoming Olympic-styled sporting event that does not include drug testing, filed an $800 million lawsuit against World Aquatics, USA Swimming and the World Anti-Doping Agency, claiming they are forcing athletes to boycott the event.
The lawsuit cites a by-law made by World Aquatics back in June, when they announced that swimmers and officials who competed in or supported the event would be barred from the sport.
“Those who enable doped sport are not welcome at World Aquatics or our events,” its president Husain al-Musallam said in a statement at the time.
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A general view of action during the Men’s 50m Freestyle final at the Paris La Defense Arena on the seventh day of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games in France. (Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images)
“The purpose of this By-law is to support the values of the Olympic Movement, including the commitment to the World Anti-Doping Code, and to protect the integrity and the image of Aquatic sports, and the health, safety and well-being of Aquatics Athletes,” the by-law reads. “It complements the separate and independent obligation that is owed by those who are subject to the Rules and Regulations not to do anything that brings Aquatic sports into disrepute.”
“World Aquatics’ By-Law 10 is a thinly veiled attempt to strong-arm the swimming community into boycotting the Enhanced Games. They’re holding elite swimmers and support staff hostage, threatening lifetime bans from Olympic events – all without a single anti-doping violation,” Enhanced Games founder Dr. Aron D’Souza said in a statement.
The lawsuit calls into question a by-law made by World Aquatics back in June. (iStock)
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“To claim this is about protecting the ‘integrity’ or ‘health and safety’ of athletes is utter hypocrisy. The widespread, unchecked use of performance-enhancing substances in their own events is an open secret, and it’s well-documented that they tolerate state-sponsored doping when it serves their financial interests. The audacity of World Aquatics to invoke ‘integrity’ while under investigation by Congress and the U.S. Department of Justice for their complicity in the 2021 Chinese swim team doping cover-up is truly astounding. This isn’t about fair play; it’s about a decades-old monopoly desperately trying to crush competition and treat athletes like indentured servants rather than the dedicated professionals they are.”
D’Souza has been critical of the Olympics and sport governing bodies in the past, calling them hypocritical when it came to natural sport and athletes’ health.
“For the people who say this is unsafe or unhealthy, I’d tell them that the two longest-serving sponsors of the Olympics are Coca-Cola and McDonald’s, the two organizations that have done the most damage to health in human history. There’s actually no doubt about that,” D’Souza said in a 2024 interview with Fox News Digital.
“Fast food and fake sugar have done more damage to human health than anyone in human history. You can read the history books. The rise of McDonald’s and the rise of Coca-Cola have been very much attached to the Olympic movement. So, when the IOC and its cronies want to lecture me about safety, I point to their own history.”
FILE – James Magnussen (AUS) reacts after winning his men’s 100m freestyle heat during the London 2012 Olympic Games at Aquatics Centre. (Rob Schumacher/ USA TODAY Sports)
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The Enhanced Games are set to take place next May in Las Vegas. Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen, of Australia, is set to compete, where rewards of up to $1 million are being offered.
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