The Arnold Sports Festival, a sports fair and entertainment linked to the actor and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, received criticism from the Brazilian Confederation of Bodybuilding, Bodybuilding, and Fitness (CBMFF) for being associated with doping and steroids trafficking.
The South American edition of the event will be held in São Paulo from Friday (12) to Sunday (14).
The confederation accused the show of being complicit in the use of doping in its main attraction—the bodybuilding competitions—and associating with people and companies that sell illegal anabolic steroids.
The National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) allows these products to be sold only in pharmacies with a prescription.
Last week, during a public hearing at the Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Confederation representatives presented complaints against the event and demanded that various groups, including the Brazilian Authority Doping Control (ABCD) and the Federal Police, investigate possible anabolic trafficking.
Bodybuilding, a sport that measures the outcome of bodybuilding training in different categories, aims to become an Olympic sport. The first step was to enter the program of the Pan American Games in Lima, which will take place in July.
Anvisa said that all imports to individuals of medicines that are not authorized to enter the country are blocked by the agency.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon