Match Fixing Scandal: FDA to investigate TPE

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Recent revelations from the FBI’s match fixing investigation that the VHL is supplying players with pills known as TPE has garnered much public attention and sparked ethical debates across all forms of media. In a press conference held today, the FBI announced it has officially referred the TPE drug matter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Lead FBI investigator Burt Macklin said “The FBI felt it was in the best interest for the investigation to bring in our federal drug experts, the FDA.” Overseeing the FDA’s investigation will be FDA head Peter Quaker who spoke at the press conference “With so little known about TPE, our administration will do a thorough and complete investigation into TPE to determine its legality.”

The VHL could face steep penalties if TPE is found to be an illegal narcotic. Drug policy expert Dr. Zora Williams noted “If the VHL is forcing players to take an illegal drug, or even if they weren’t directly forcing players but created a systemic environment where taking an illegal drug was a requirement for professional success, the penalty for that would result not only in the dissolution of the VHL, but probably jail time for many executives in charge of the VHL.”

 

Shortly after the announcement from the FBI, VHL PR head Dani Greene released a short statement saying the VHL will “fully cooperate with all reasonable requests from the FDA and any other investigating body.”

 

FDA drug trials normally take years to complete. The FDA has not given a timeframe on when they expect their TPE investigation to complete. Some expect the high profile nature of this investigation will expedite the FDA’s findings. Dr. Williams thinks differently saying “Unless TPE contains some already identified illegal narcotic, which it probably doesn’t because it would have already been detected, the FDA will need to do extensive research. That will take a long time. I don’t expect to receive results from the FDA for a while.”  If that is the case, the FBI’s investigation will need to continue without knowing the legality of TPE.