Category: Sanction Outcome

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September 20, 2023

Public Statement on Disciplinary Action Against Participant Joel “Joel” Holmlund

Introduction

The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) has taken decisive action to provisionally suspend Mr. Joel “Joel” Holmlund, a professional esports player, formerly of team Godsent, from all ESIC Member events in light of evidence available corroborating allegations of his multiple breaches of the ESIC Anti-Corruption Code.

Overview of the Case

It is alleged that Mr. Joel Holmlund, while being a professional player for the team Godsent, engaged in corrupt behavior contravening the ESIC Anti-Corruption Code during his participation in the BetBoom Playlist Urbanistic event, and separately in the IEM Dallas 2023 (Europe Closed Qualifier) involving Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), for the following infringements:

  1. Between the period of 27 March 2023 to 28 March 2023, Mr. Holmlund placed bets on matches he was playing in;
  2. On 31 March 2023, Mr. Holmlund placed two bets against his own team in one match; and
  3. Between the period of 29 March 2023 to 1 May 2023, Mr. Holmlund proceeded to place 17 bets on various CS:GO matches.

Although the tournament related to item 1 was not an ESIC member event tournament, the ESIC Codes allow ESIC to issue a Rejection Order pursuant to item 2.A.2 of the Anti-Corruption Code. The tournament related to item 2 was an ESIC member event, and the ESIC Codes give ESIC jurisdiction. This sanction will be issued to all ESIC members and may be adopted by other third parties at their discretion.

Investigation and Charges

Our comprehensive investigation into the matter involved examining:

  1. Records of individual bets placed during specific events.
  2. Multiple account registrations and their associated details.
  3. Digital footprints, including IP addresses, device IDs, and browser information.
  4. Linkages between the betting accounts and various social media platforms.
  5. Betting patterns in relation to specific esports matches and in-game performance.
  6. Records of bets placed on various esports matches.
  7. Patterns of betting behavior in relation to professional participation.

ESIC is grateful for the cooperation of our Anti-Corruption Supporter member betting operators for providing this evidence.

After collating and reviewing the evidence in light of the allegations, Mr. Holmlund was charged with a breach of ESIC’s Anti-Corruption Code, particularly:

2.1 Corruption:

2.1.1 Fixing or contriving in any way or otherwise influencing improperly, or being a party to any effort to fix or contrive in any way or otherwise influence improperly, the result, progress, conduct, or any other aspect of any Match.

 2.2 Betting:

2.2.1 Betting on any CS:GO Match, including matches that you were a professional participant in  as detailed in the infringements above.

2.2.2 Facilitating, aiding, abetting or otherwise assisting any party in committing acts described in 2.2.1.

2.2.3 Failing to disclose to the ESIC a full and true disclosure of all the facts and circumstances with respect to acts described in 2.1 and 2.2.

And further offences under the ESIC Code of Conduct articles as follows;

2.4.5 Where the facts of the alleged incident are not adequately or clearly covered by any of the above offences, conduct that brings Esport, the Game, Event, ESIC or a Member into disrepute.

Mr. Holmlund was served with a Notice of Charge on 30 August 2023 and given an opportunity to respond. After denying the charges in reply, ESIC gathered additional evidence to assess the veracity of his denials.

Considering the gravity of the allegations, Mr. Holmlund’s current active participation in an ESIC-affiliated event, and being satisfied with the compelling evidence presented in its further investigation, ESIC has elected to suspend Mr. Holmlund via a Rejection Order Notice. While the suspension stands, ESIC remains open to reevaluation should Mr. Holmlund present new evidence by 6 October 2023.

Sanction Duration

At the time of publication, as the Rejection Order Notice has not been finalised, ESIC will reserve the disclosure of the duration of the ban on participation in ESIC member events to be imposed. ESIC will make a further statement on or after 6 October 2023 to confirm the final outcome of the investigation.

The ESIC Open Matters Register, found on the ESIC website, will facilitate any further public updates about this matter as published by ESIC from time to time, and at its discretion.

About ESIC

ESIC is the recognized guardian of the integrity of esports and works to for disrupt, prevent, investigate, and prosecute of all forms of cheating and malpractice in esports, including, but not limited to, match manipulation and doping with the overarching objective of protecting youth, promoting industry investment and safeguarding sporting integrity in esports.

Learn more about ESIC at https://www.esic.gg

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May 06, 2022

ESIC ISSUES CHARGES AGAINST THREE COACHES RESULTING FROM THE HISTORICAL SPECTATOR BUG INVESTIGATION

OVERVIEW

On 5th May 2022 ESIC issued a statement ( ESIC TO ISSUE CHARGES RESULTING FROM HISTORICAL SPECTATOR BUG INVESTIGATION – ESIC) setting out information on the Static Spectator Bug, Third-Person Spectator Bug, and Free-Roam Spectator Bug (collectively referred to as “Spectator Bug Variants”) encountered in CS:GO competition over a significant number of years and explaining how each would be dealt with in sanctioning participants who had been bugged by each of the variants. 37 coaches were sanctioned in 2020 for offences relating to the static spectator bug variant.

This statement deals with charges against three participants ahead of further statements to be made by ESIC with respect to the Spectator Bug Variants in finalising this matter.

 

CLARIFICATION ON REASONING BEHIND SANCTIONS RELATING TO THE SPECTATOR BUG VARIANTS

In order to be abundantly clear, it is important to note that ESIC does not view the outcome of an unfair advantage being achieved as a necessary factor of the threat created by the Spectator Bug Variants. Rather, the mere potential for exploitation and its utilisation by the affected participants created an opportunity for an unfair advantage that should have been immediately rectified.

The Commissioner is of the view that all Spectator Bug Variant related occurrences regardless of apparent harm (or harmlessness) should, in a professional setting, be dealt with swiftly and immediately. The Commissioner takes the firm view that esports should hold no room for complacency with such matters and accordingly seeks to apply a penalty to those who did not adequately deal with the opportunity to gain a competitive advantage during an occurrence any of the Spectator Bug Variants.

The above reasoning is consistent with all statements made by ESIC relating to the Spectator Bug Variants.

 

ESIC ISSUES NOTICES OF CHARGE TO THREE ESPORTS PARTICIPANTS AS A RESULT OF THE HISTORICAL SPECTATOR BUG INVESTIGATION 

ESIC has issued three individuals with a Notice of Charge relating to various occurrences of the Spectator Bug Variants. These individuals are:

  • Luis “peacemaker” Tadeu [Free Roam Spectator Bug]
  • Sergey ‘hally’ Shavayev [Static Spectator Bug]
  • Rafael ‘zakk’ Fernandes [Static Spectator Bug]

ESIC’s Notices of Charge detail the offence, evidence relied upon, as well as ESIC’s Intended Sanction pending the offending party’s replies to ESIC during the allotted reply window notified in the Notice of Charge.

Due to the nature of the Spectator Bug Variants, and ESIC’s Penalty Mechanism as outlined in ESIC’s statement issued on the 5th of May 2022 (viewed here), each of the above participants have been provisionally suspended as at the date of their Notices of Charge from all ESIC Member Events.

Any time spent provisionally suspended will be credited to any formal period of suspension the offending parties may receive upon ESIC’s final determination (post reply window). Each offending party has the right to appeal the provisional suspension from ESIC member events. It should be noted that PGL, the organisers of the Antwerp Major (Major), and Valve the publisher of CS:GO are not members of ESIC. Consequently, ESIC has no jurisdiction to make decisions relating to the Major.

 

EVIDENCE RELIED UPON – DECLASSIFIED AS PUBLICLY AVAILABLE INFORMATION

In laying its charges, ESIC relied upon the following evidence:

Luis “peacemaker” Tadeu:

Did not act in an appropriate manner in response to a CS:GO free roam camera bug on 6 March 2018 during a match between Heroic and Imperial held at the ECS Season 5 Europe Challenger Cup (Conduct).

Evidence:

Team Enemy Team Tournament Date Map Round Start Round End Total Rounds Match Link Video Link
Heroic Imperial ECS Season 5 Europe Challenger Cup 6-Mar-18 Inferno 1-0 2-0 1 Link

 

 Link

 

Intended Sanction: Suspension from all ESIC Member events for a period of time notified in the Notice of Charge but subject to a final determination by ESIC after considering any replies received.

Note: This participant is provisionally suspended from all ESIC Member events pending the outcome of these proceedings.

  

Sergey ‘hally’ Shavayev:

Did not act in an appropriate manner in response to the static spectator bug at CIS Rising League Season 3 (Conduct) 

Evidence:

Team Enemy Team Tournament Date Map Round Start Round End Total Rounds Match Link Video Link
Espada Dracarys CIS Rising League Season 3 27-Nov-19 Mirage 0-0 0-1 1 Link

 

 Link

 

Intended Sanction: Suspension from all ESIC Member events for a period of time notified in the Notice of Charge but subject to a final determination by ESIC after considering any replies received.

Note: This participant is provisionally suspended from all ESIC Member events pending the outcome of these proceedings

 

Rafael ‘zakk’ Fernandes:

Did not act in an appropriate manner in response to a static spectator bug variant at ESL One Cologne 2018 North America Closed Qualifier (Conduct)

 Evidence:

Team Enemy Team Tournament Date Map Round Start Round End Total Rounds Match Link Video Link
9z River Plate Aorus League 2020 #3 Southern Cone 7-Aug-2020 Overpass 0 – 0 0 – 0 0.5 Link Link
Luminosity eUnited ESL One Cologne 2018 North America CloseD Qualifier 24-May-2018 Mirage 17 – 18 18 – 18 1 Link Link

 

Intended Sanction: Suspension from all ESIC Member events for a period of time notified in the Notice of Charge but subject to a final determination by ESIC after considering any replies received.

Note: This participant is provisionally suspended from all ESIC Member events pending the outcome of these proceedings.

 

EXPLANATORY NOTE REGARDING INTENDED SANCTIONS

ESIC has notified each offending party of an Intended Sanction. ESIC will determine the final sanction applicable in each case depending on the response received from the relevant offending party. Once determined, ESIC will notify its determination via public statement on its website only as well as its Sanctions Register.

 

REASON WHY ESIC HAS CHOSEN TO INCLUDE THE EVIDENCE LIST IN THIS STATEMENT

ESIC has elected to include the evidence related to the charges made out against the individuals mentioned in this statement as:

  1. The evidence is primarily if not wholly publicly available information;
  2. The evidence does not include any sensitive, or personal information;
  3. The evidence resembles the form of evidence ESIC chose to release in the first sanctions handed out by ESIC; and
  4. The evidence is of pertinent public interest.

When making a public statement, ESIC will make a determination on whether to make evidence public on a case-by-case basis.

 

NEXT STEPS RELATING TO THIS STATEMENT

ESIC will make a series of releases that notify charges that ESIC intends to impose on other affected participants. ESIC will place a notice for anticipated releases on its Open Investigations Register located here.

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October 18, 2021

ESIC Declassified Report Into Allegations Against Players for Complicity

  • On 2nd September 2020, ESIC made its first public statement about exploitation of a spectator bug in CS:GO. Among the first three coaches sanctioned at the end of August 2020 was then Heroic coach,  Nicolai “HUNDEN” Petersen (“Mr. Petersen”), who was banned for his exploitation of the spectator bug during professional play.

 

 

  • On 4 September 2021, Mr. Petersen, following on from allegations he made publicly on Danish television several days before, sent ESIC information which he alleges provides evidence that the players who were playing for Heroic at the time of Mr. Petersen’s exploitation of the spectator bug were complicit in his exploits.

 

  • Petersen’s referral of ‘information’ which he stated supports his allegations (“Allegation Referral”) included:
  • A written statement from Mr. Petersen laying out his allegations.
  • Screenshots of text and messenger conversations with various individuals related to the team.
  • Screenshots of a contemporaneous text conversation with an anonymous individual known as “Robert” around the time of the original spectator bug bans of September 2020.
  • A voice recording and transcripts of Mr. Petersen’s conversation with Nikolaj “niko” Kristensen (“ Kristensen”).
  • A Non-Disclosure Agreement (unsigned) relating to the spectator bug incident that would, if signed, have prohibited the players from disclosing information publicly about the incident.

 

The report outlining the findings of this investigation can be accessed here.

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July 07, 2021

ESIC Issues Additional Sanction Against Player Lim Vi Ron (“Hiroshi”) for Participating in Member Event While Banned

OVERVIEW:

ESIC, with excellent help from ESL Asia executives, has investigated an incident involving Lim Vi Ron (playing, in this instance, as “Hiroshi”, but having been banned for offences committed while playing as “NAMIERURO_YT”) breaching the conditions of his active ban under previous sanctioning action by attempting to participate in an ESIC member event under an alias. As a result of this offence, Lim Vi Ron has been issued with a further sanction of a one-year ban, in addition to his pre-existing sanction.

ESL, a long-standing ESIC member and operator of the ESL Mobile Open Brawl Stars Season 1, has taken further action to disqualify the individual and their team from the competition.

Comment from Ian Smith, Commissioner:

“Bans exist to ensure that threats to the integrity of esports are mitigated to the greatest extent possible. It is apparent that any individual who acts in a way to undermine this purpose is acting in bad faith and to the detriment of the industry. ESIC takes any breach of sanction conditions seriously.“

INVESTIGATION OVERVIEW:

Summary of Outcome

ESIC undertook a review of the evidence provided by ESL Asia and determined that Lim Vi Ron had attempted to circumvent his existing ban from competition by deception and that conduct constituted an offense under Article 2.4.5 of the Code of Conduct.

Article 2.4.5 of the Code of Conduct states that is an offence

“Where the facts of the alleged incident are not adequately or clearly covered by any of the above offences, conduct that brings Esport, the Game, Event, ESIC or a Member into disrepute.”

By engaging in behaviour designed to avoid the conditions of a ban, the participant contravened Article 2.4.5 of the Code of Conduct. Upon assessment of this matter, the Commissioner has exercised his discretion to determine that this constitutes a Level 4 offense. Accordingly, the offending participant has been provided with a Notice of Charge detailing his offense and his sanction in the form of a ban for a period of 12 months from the date of his notice and his right to appeal clearly set out.

ESIC’s sanctions which are the subject of this release are summarised below:

  • Sanction against Lim Vi Ron: 12 Month Ban relating to ban avoidance in a Member event to run consecutively from the end of the pre-existing ban.

ESIC Ban End Date: 1 March 2023

Applicability of sanctions issued as a result of the investigation

As per all investigations conducted by ESIC, our determinations have effect across all of our membership. This includes members such as ESL, DreamHack, WePlay, BLAST, LVP, Eden and many others. ESIC also requests that all non-ESIC member tournament organisers honour these bans.

Commendations

ESIC would like to acknowledge the work of ESL Asia in assisting ESIC in its investigation in a timely manner, enabling this outcome to be reached.

For any further enquiries relating to this matter, please contact us at info@esic.gg.

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July 06, 2021

ESIC Hands Down 12 Month Bans to Three Individuals in Legends of Runeterra Cheating Incident

OVERVIEW:

ESIC received a report from ESL Asia relating to the abnormal progression of particular participants in the ESL Mobile Open Legends of Runeterra (Ladder 2) tournament. The investigation related to a total of five accounts. Three accounts were operated by one individual while the remaining two individuals held an account each.

Upon investigating the evidence provided to ESIC and conducting further enquiries, ESIC determined that the three individuals had colluded to cheat in the ladder-based tournament by engaging in boosting behaviour. Accordingly, ESIC has sanctioned the three individuals with bans of 12 months each. The Legends of Runeterra “LoR” players sanctioned include Le Hiep, DiaComSuon, and Cuticini.

INVESTIGATION OVERVIEW:

Purpose of Investigation

ESIC is centrally focused on protecting the integrity of the esports landscape. ESIC believes that an effective integrity framework assesses the veracity of competitive integrity on all levels of esports competition. This comes from ESIC’s firm belief that the competitive integrity of esports is of central importance to the maintenance of its commercial longevity and viability.

Furthermore, as previously stated in various releases; the presence of any form of match-manipulation or corrupt behaviour is of serious concern to the safety of youth who form a considerable proportion of participants in the industry globally. Accordingly, it is imperative that esports stakeholders take an aggressive stance against any form of corruption in competitive integrity.

INVESTIGATION OUTCOMES:

Summary of outcomes

ESIC undertook a review of the evidence provided by ESL Asia and determined that the behaviours of three participants in engaging in boosting behaviour contravened Article 2.4.4 of the Code of Conduct.

Article 2.4.4 of the Code of Conduct states that is a Level 4 violation of the Code of Conduct to engage in:

“2.4.4 Cheating or attempting to cheat to win a Game or Match.”

By engaging in boosting behaviour, the behaviours of the three participants contravened Article 2.4.4 of the Code of Conduct and constituted a Level 4 offense. Accordingly, each offending participant has been provided with a Notice of Charge detailing their offense and their sanction in the form of a ban for a period of 12 months from the date of their notice.

ESIC’s sanctions which are the subject of this release are summarised below:

  • Sanction against Le Hiep: 12 Month Ban relating to a cheating breach of ESIC’s Code of Conduct.
    • Sanction Start Date: 16 June 2021
    • Sanction End Date: 16 June 2022
  • Sanction against DiaComSuon: 12 Month Ban relating to a cheating breach of ESIC’s Code of Conduct.
    • Sanction Start Date: 16 June 2021
    • Sanction End Date: 16 June 2022
  • Sanction against Cuticini: 12 Month Ban relating to a cheating breach of ESIC’s Code of Conduct.
    • Sanction Start Date: 16 June 2021
    • Sanction End Date: 16 June 2022

It is noted that Cuticini operated two fake accounts “MUPBestsolo” and “Tran Huyen” in the perpetration of their cheating behaviour.

Applicability of sanctions issued as a result of the investigation

As per all investigations conducted by ESIC, our determinations have effect across all of our membership. This includes members such as ESL, DreamHack, WePlay, BLAST, LVP, Eden, and many others. ESIC also requests that all non-ESIC member tournament organisers honour these bans.

Commendations

ESIC would like to acknowledge the work of ESL Asia in assisting ESIC in its investigation in a timely manner, enabling this outcome to be reached.

For any further enquiries relating to this matter, please contact us at info@esic.gg.

 

-END OF RELEASE-

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January 23, 2021

Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) Statement Regarding Alleged Stream Sniping/Ghosting by Vitality in BLAST Premier

OVERVIEW:

On Thursday 21st January,  it was brought to ESIC’s attention that, during their match against Team Liquid, a television in the common lounge area of the Vitality office could be seen with the broadcast stream of the match displayed .

ESIC has received and assessed VOD footage and player camera footage and found that this breach occurred in the aforementioned match as well as having occurred in map 2 of Team Vitality’s game against Complexity.  ESIC’s assessment of the VOD footage and player camera footage does not suggest that the players were given information derived from the stream or that they gained any advantage in their matches as a result of the Code violation by the organisation. Team Vitality’s management has accepted responsibility for the breach.

Accordingly, in the interest of proportionality and in line with ESIC’s zero tolerance policy on stream-sniping, ESIC has today issued Team Vitality with a fine of $10,000.00 for their breach of the ESIC Code. ESIC’s decision to fine the organisation rather than disqualify, suspend or ban the team is predicated on ESIC’s review of the evidence which indicates that taking an action in the alternative would have been a disproportionate and unfair outcome for the negligence of the organisation’s staff, who, whilst negligent, had no intentional malice in their actions.

ESIC STATEMENT:

On 11 November 2020, ESIC notified its members that stream sniping, a violation of the ESIC code, would be treated with zero tolerance and made a widely circulated and publicised statement about the matter. Consequently, the allegations against Vitality were taken seriously and investigated thoroughly by both ESIC and our member, BLAST Premier.

ESIC reviewed the VOD, player cams and other video evidence from both the Complexity and Team Liquid matches and analysed in-team comms finding no evidence that the incident gave rise to or represented any effort by the players and coach to gain any advantage or cheat during the matches. Instead, it was concluded that the availability of the stream for viewing from the playing room was due to the negligent error of unrelated Vitality staff, who, without thinking, simply wanted to view the match where they were working.

Consequently, ESIC takes the view that It would be unfair to punish the team and players directly for their employer’s negligence and, instead, decided to issue a sanction against Team Vitality directly by way of a fine of $10,000.00.

ESIC reinforces the zero tolerance of any form of stream-sniping and will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute any such breaches of the ESIC code. ESIC reminds all organisations to remain vigilant while matches are being played in home environments to ensure that negligent breaches are stopped.

COMMENTS:

ESIC Commissioner, Ian Smith, said:

“Whilst I am, naturally, disappointed that this has happened so soon after our announcement on this Issue, I accept on the evidence that there was no malice Intended and no bad actors actually trying to corrupt competitive Integrity. Consequently, I am pleased that Vitality have accepted the sanction with grace and I hope this serves to remind all organsations to be particularly vigilant while matches are being played In their home environments.”

 

Vitality CEO, Nicolas Maurer, said:

“A television was spotted displaying the livestream of our game in the background of our team while they were playing. This television is placed in a lounge and used by visitors to watch games.

Even though this is not coming from a malicious intention, we agree that this placement is controversial. This was a big mistake on our side and we accept the fine. As soon as the issue was pointed out to us, we gave officials all the tools to look further into the incident. We agree that competitive integrity cannot be taken lightly and apologize for this towards all the CS:GO fans. We will make sure to be extremely careful in the future on this matter.”

 

BLAST Premier Commissioner, Andrew Haworth, said:

When the admins spotted the stream Vitality were immediately told to turn off the screen in the other room, which they did without hesitation. We informed ESIC and supported them in their investigation as they reviewed footage and made a decision. We take our steer from them to be impartial and uphold competitive integrity.

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January 22, 2021

The Esports Integrity Commission Issues Sanctions Against 35 Individuals for Betting Offences in Violation of the ESIC Anti-Corruption Code

INVESTIGATION OVERVIEW:

Purpose of Investigation

ESIC is centrally focused on protecting the integrity of the esports landscape. Accordingly, any form of match manipulation, or suspected match manipulation is treated with extreme scrutiny. In order to protect competitive integrity in esports, ESIC facilitates and maintains an “Anti-Corruption” program which prohibits individuals who are participating in ESIC Member Events from placing bets on matches that they are participating in and, indeed, placing bets on any matches using the game in which they play professionally.

ESIC is of a firm belief that the competitive integrity of esports is of central importance to the maintenance of its commercial longevity and viability. Furthermore, the presence of any form of match manipulation or corrupt behaviour is of serious concern to the safety of youth who form a considerable proportion of participants in the industry globally.  Accordingly, it is imperative that esports stakeholders take an aggressive stance against any form of corruption in competitive integrity.

The purpose of the investigations underpinning this release was to identify instances of betting behaviour in violation of ESIC’s Anti-Corruption Code and to exclude by way of sanction the perpetrators of such behaviour from esports globally. It is important to distinguish that, in handing down its sanctions, ESIC does not seek to make a ruling on the presence of match-fixing at this point. Match-fixing is still under investigation with respect to the incidents set out in this release. In particular, betting against one’s own team in a match one is playing in gives rise to a strong suspicion of match-fixing and particular focus is being given in conjunction with law enforcement to those cases, so this release and the sanctions listed do not preclude further action with respect to the incidents or players listed.

Scope of Investigation

Over the past few years, ESIC has been investigating instances of betting behaviour violations and suspected match manipulation on a global scale. While this problem is not unique to ESEA events, the scope of this release will be to explore the result of investigations into such behaviour in Australian CS:GO.

ESIC is currently undertaking other investigations which comprise the examination of a number of other CS:GO leagues including leagues located in North America, Europe and a significant number of other leagues in multiple game titles.

ESIC will provide further updates on its other investigations and collaborations with law enforcement on issues relating to match-manipulation and adverse betting behaviour as and when it is appropriate to do so.

 

INVESTIGATION OUTCOMES:

Summary of outcomes

Throughout the course of its investigation ESIC has received and relied upon information from its Anti-Corruption Supporters as well as other information discovered by ESIC in executing further research and information gathering exercises.

A summary overview of the outcomes reached as a result of the investigations conducted by ESIC into the adverse behaviour of participants during ESEA competitions in Australia is set out below:

  • A total of 35 individuals have been observed to be in breach of the Anti-Corruption Code administered by ESIC. This is in addition to the initial 7 individuals previously sanctioned by ESIC on 23 October 2020.
  • In addition to the sanctions issued against 35 individuals, the sanctions against two of the individuals previously sanctioned by ESIC on 23 October 2020 have been increased due to newly available evidence.
  • ESIC has issued sanctions against all 35 individuals. The sanctions issued by ESIC were determined on the basis of the behaviours observed and perpetrated by the individuals on a scale explained below.
  • The offending behaviours which are addressed within this release include:
    • Betting on matches in ESIC member events;
    • Betting on an individual’s own matches in ESIC member events; or
    • Betting against an individual’s own team in ESIC member events.
  • ESIC has referred the matter in its entirety to law enforcement for investigation.
  • In addition to the individuals sanctioned by ESIC, a number of non-player associates who appear to have been participating in adverse betting behaviours have also been detected and referred to law enforcement for investigation.
  • This release does not deal with ascertaining or alleging the presence of match fixing, although the strong possibility of this in a number of cases is still under investigation by both ESIC and law enforcement.

Investigation Results

During the course of ESIC’s investigation into betting behaviour violations of participants in Australian CS:GO member events (“Offending Parties”), ESIC detected three main categories of betting behaviours which violate the Anti-Corruption Code.

These behaviours include:

  1. Betting on matches in ESIC member events;
  2. Betting on an individual’s own matches in ESIC member events; or
  3. Betting against an individual’s own team in ESIC member events.

As the conduct of the Offending Parties observed by ESIC is in breach of Article 2.2 of ESIC’s Anti-Corruption Code (as well as ESEA’s tournament rules), ESIC and ESEA have issued sanctions against the Offending Parties, in accordance with Article 6 of the Anti-Corruption Code. The Offending Parties and their respective sanctions are detailed in Sanction Outcomes which is annexed to this release and marked Annexure A.

In addition to ESIC’s detection and prosecution of Offending Parties, ESIC also detected the presence of collusive behaviour by close associates of the Offending Parties. ESIC observed several instances where close associates of various Offending Parties placed identical bets to those placed by Offending Parties. Whilst ESIC has no jurisdiction to deal with these Individuals, we have referred their behaviour to law enforcement for investigation as being potentially in breach of criminal law.

 

Sanctions Issued

In determining the sanctions to issue against Offending Parties, ESIC formulated a “Sanctions Matrix” in order to ensure that the punishments issued by ESIC were consistent and proportional to the offences.

After a detailed analysis of the large amount of evidence available to ESIC provided by Anti-Corruption Supporter member bookmakers, it was determined that five levels of sanctions would be applicable to the data set available to ESIC in the resolution of this portion of our investigation. These “Levels of Sanction” are outlined on the following page in brief detail for the purpose of facilitating an understanding of the derivation of the sanctions issued against the Offending Parties.

Table 1 – Sanctions Matrix

Category Level of Sanction Ban Issued
Betting on matches 1 12 Months
Betting on Own Matches 2 24 Months
Aggravated Betting (>10 matches) 3 36 Months
Bet Against Team 4 48 Months
Aggravated Betting Against Team

(>10 matches)

 5 60 Months

 

The Offending Parties and their respective sanctions are detailed in Sanction Outcomes which is annexed to this release and marked Annexure A.

ESIC has, prior to the date of this release, issued the Offending Parties with Notices of Charge detailing the offense, ban applied and appeal mechanisms available to them.

Amendments to previously issued sanctions

In addition to the newly issued sanctions against 35 Offending Parties, ESIC has also amended its sanctions against the two players which were previously sanctioned on 23 October 2020. The details of the amended sanctions are found in Table 2 below:

Offending Party Previous Sanction Amended Sanction
Akram Smida 12 Months 24 Months
Daryl May 12 Months 48 Months

Table 2 – Amended Sanctions

Applicability of sanctions issued as a result of the investigation

As per all investigations conducted by ESIC, our determinations have effect across all of our membership. This includes ESL, DreamHack, WePlay, BLAST, LVP, Nodwin, Eden, Relog, UCC, Allied, Kronoverse, Estars and 247 Leagues.  ESIC also requests that all non-ESIC member tournament organisers honour these bans.

Further implications of breaches of the Anti-Corruption Code

Due to the nature of betting related offences (with certain betting activities potentially breaching criminal codes in particular jurisdictions) and ESIC’s relationships with several law enforcement entities internationally, including in Australia, ESIC has referred this matter to law enforcement.

Reminder to all professional players regarding betting activities

ESIC closely monitors betting activity in esports for the purpose of protecting the industry against bad actors who wish to exploit the industry for personal gain. Without a unified understanding of the implications of inappropriate betting behaviour and observance of anti-corruption mechanisms (such as the Anti-Corruption Code), esports runs the risk of facilitating attractive fraud opportunities for bad actors. Accordingly, it is important that professional players understand that breaches of ESIC’s Anti-Corruption Code are a serious concern.

It is crucially important that professional players (at the very least) abstain from placing bets on the game from which they earn an income in order to preserve the integrity of the esports landscape internationally and mitigate the potential for bad actors to take advantage of our sport.

For reference, an extract from the Anti-Corruption Code found on our website has been placed below:

ESIC Anti-Corruption Code (Article 2.2 Betting):

 The conduct described in the sub-Articles set out in Articles 2.1 – 2.4, if committed by a Participant, shall amount to an offence by such Participant under this Anti-Corruption Code:

2.2.1 Placing, accepting, laying or otherwise entering into any Bet with any other party (whether individual, company or otherwise and including any daily fantasy games in any jurisdiction where such games are regulated by a gambling authority or considered “betting” in a legal or regulatory sense and including “in-game” betting with in game items (e.g. skins etc that have real value)) in relation to the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of any Match or Event in the Game that the Participant plays professionally or is involved in any other capacity, such as manager, coach, agent etc.  Any Participant that has significant involvement (in the entire discretion of the Integrity Commissioner) in a number of Games (such as a team owner or other team official) may not place or otherwise enter into any Bet on any of the Games in which he/she is involved. 

2.2.2 Directly or indirectly soliciting, inducing, enticing, instructing, persuading, encouraging, intentionally facilitating or authorising any other party to enter into a Bet in relation to the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of any Match.

By understanding the implications of certain betting activities as well as adopting and maintaining a proactive stance on anti-corruption, players can assist us in contributing to the safe growth of esports, including their ability to earn an income as professionals.

Thanks

Cooperation between ESIC and all tournament organisers in relation to anti-corruption matters are essential in the pursuit of safeguarding esports. We appreciate the proactive efforts of the ESEA in working with us diligently to investigate any indication of malpractice by participants within their events. Furthermore, ESIC would like to thank our Anti-Corruption Supporters for their collaboration on the investigation so far.

ESIC would also like to thank Ladbrokes Australia as well as our other Anti-Corruption Supporters who were instrumental in ESIC’s investigation of this matter.

For any further enquiries relating to this matter, please contact us at info@esic.gg.

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November 11, 2020

Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) Statement Regarding Stream Sniping/Ghosting in online CS:GO tournaments

OVERVIEW:
Through the period May to June 2020 ESIC received numerous allegations of coaches and teams engaging in stream sniping behavior (having the broadcast stream visible during the progress of the match, usually on a second monitor, sometimes called “ghosting”) during online competitions. Since the initial notification of this issue to ESIC, ESIC has received and assessed compelling evidence depicting that this behavior has been taking place on an alarmingly regular basis and at all levels of competition.

Stream sniping is cheating and is specifically prohibited by the rules of almost all CS:GO tournament organisers. Furthermore, this form of cheating is a breach of the ESIC Code of Conduct.

 

ESIC STATEMENT REGARDING STREAM SNIPING:

As of the date of this release, ESIC has issued a direction to its member to re-communicate, re-emphasise, and reinforce the CS:GO tournament rule prohibiting stream sniping during online events. ESIC strongly recommends that non-member organisations do the same.

ESIC has notified its members that this form of cheating will be treated with zero tolerance if detected in the future.

FURTHER MEASURES TO BE TAKEN:

ESIC further recommends that additional measures be urgently implemented in order to mitigate the ongoing threat to competitive integrity that is posed by this practice. The recommendations found below are specific to CS:GO and are not meant to cover any other game. An unfair advantage could accrue by the use of some of these recommendations in other games. Accordingly, separate but equally tailored consideration should be given to measures that should be implemented to mitigate this risk for other game titles.

Recommendations for CS:GO Tournament Organisers

  1. Any tournament rule prohibiting the viewing of a CS:GO match broadcast stream be reviewed and, if necessary, strengthened, republished and notified to all participants. It is noted that prohibitions within the ESIC Code of Conduct against the access and/or use of any direct real-time data feed by players, coaches or teams remain in place and in full force and effect.
  2. The delay between the real-time match action and the stream broadcast be increased to a minimum of 3 minutes.
  3. During any technical pause in a match, the broadcast stream should be amended so as to not show any current round information or current round caster or analyst commentary.
  4. In Tier 1 CS:GO online competition, as a minimum, every effort should be made to include live video feeds from each team playing room with as much of the room and the participants covered by video as logistics and practicality allow. This footage does not need to be broadcasted, but it must be stored by the tournament organiser for at least 90 days following the match. Further to this, communication between coaches and players should be recorded and kept for a minimum of 90 days.
  5. In recognition of the fact that betting markets are highly likely to be offered on broadcast CS:GO matches (whether supported or endorsed by a tournament organiser or not), ESIC notes that it is imperative to establish countermeasures against the potential exploitation of a broadcast delay for the purposes of betting fraud being committed by participants of the tournament (i.e. taking advantage of the broadcast delay by using inside information). In order to do so, ESIC reiterates that it is important for tournament organisers to conclude “official data” agreements for the provision of real-time data via a data partner or directly to the esports betting industry. ESIC explicitly disclaims that this recommendation is not to be construed as an endorsement of betting on esports. Furthermore, this recommendation does not imply that all risk associated with the existence of betting markets (such as match-fixing) are wholly mitigated by official data agreements, but these agreements are considerably better for esports integrity than the alternative or, even worse, pretending that the betting market does not exist.

ESIC is open to discuss rules and practical measures that may be adopted with respect to other games and welcomes dialogue from any member, tournament organiser or game developer on this issue.

Overview of investigations conducted by ESIC, the reasons for our recommendations and investigation outcomes:

  • ESIC received a significant number of allegations of ghosting against teams, players, and coaches from across the CS:GO ecosystem. If all were credible, it indicated a widespread practice of rule breaching across the online competitive CS:GO scene.
  • Initial investigations and dealings with teams did indicate that, although far from universal, the practice was widespread in online matches.
  • To be consistent and fair to previous players sanctioned for this offence and the precedent we set in previous decisions, ESIC and some of our Member tournament organisers were faced with the very real prospect of the banning of a significant number of players, coaches and, in a few cases, entire teams. This would have had an extremely adverse effect on CS:GO esports, particularly in the top tier. Accordingly, such an action would have been, in ESIC Commissioner Ian Smith’s view, a disproportionate outcome to the actual harm done by the practice. In addition, due to the domino effect of such an action, ESIC and our members would have been faced with weeks or even months of further investigations into these alleged offences, involving many hours of video footage (where available) and hundreds of hours of in-game team communications, all over the period of our investigation into the coach bugs, which already threatened to overwhelm our limited resources.
  • ESIC was also faced with the very real challenge of proving breaches in many cases where, due to the teams playing in their own environments, it simply could not be ascertained with sufficient certainty whether the teams were ghosting to sustain a regulatory prosecution. The offence is, to all intents and purposes, impossible to police meaningfully or consistently without the measures recommended above being in place.
  • There is no perfect solution. ESIC has considered scrapping the rule altogether, but this affected the meta of the game even though it levelled the playing field, and, in our wide consultation, most agreed this was not acceptable. ESIC also considered increasing the delay between real-time play and broadcast to 5 minutes or more, but this had many unintended and bad consequences and only partly solved the problem, while significantly increasing the overall integrity threat.
  • The delay implemented by the tournament organisers in every case between the real-time game action and the broadcast stream negated almost all of the realisable competitive advantage that could be gained from the on-screen information and standardising that at 3 minutes or more is, in ESIC’s opinion, a reasonable countermeasure capable of mitigating the threat to integrity posed by this behavior to the greatest extent possible.
  • The inherent unfairness of taking strong action in those cases we investigated and where we felt there was a case to answer extended to the fact that many of the other allegations received were simply impossible to prove, which meant that some participants faced prosecution and sanctions simply because they were unfortunate enough to be in environments or circumstances where proof is or was available to ESIC and others would “get away with it” by luck.
  • ESIC has therefore concluded that the only sensible solution for the CS:GO community was to draw a line in the sand as of the date of this statement by indicating that we are closing all current investigations without prosecution and reiterating that any violation of this rule from today onwards will be prosecuted vigorously and the maximum available sanction sought if the player, coach or team is found guilty.
  • The potential betting integrity threat in every case investigated by ESIC so far was negated by an official data provision agreement that meant that odds/markets provision to betting operators occurred in real-time so that the stream broadcast was always behind the betting markets. No participant could, therefore, “beat” the delay between game outcomes in real-time and that outcome being reflected by betting operators. Concurrently, ESIC takes the view that any betting operator offering markets based on the broadcast stream of a match accepts the inherent risks associated with inaccuracies and inefficiencies in available information.
  • The prohibition on ghosting set out in Article 2.3.3 and 2.4.4 of the ESIC Code of Conduct, therefore remains in full force and effect and will be enforced from now on with zero tolerance.

ESIC Commissioner, Ian Smith, said:

“Whilst I am disappointed with the level of abuse of this facility and clear rule-breaking, it is my view that we have done what is best for the broader CS:GO community, which has already been rocked by serious scandals this year. In taking these actions, ESIC has collaborated with many stakeholders in the CS:GO space. In almost every case revealed in our investigation, there was no discernible direct competitive advantage to be gained due to the delay between the real-time match action and the broadcast stream. There are minor exceptions to this, but they can be circumvented by implementing our recommendations. Our decision not to proceed with prosecutions and our recommendations are born out of pragmatism and the desire for a holistic approach that actually works and has the minimum adverse impact on this important esports community. ESIC has fulfilled its purpose to protect esports integrity by acting as we have, but those coaches, players and teams we have given a pass to by this decision have been warned and we are watching them closely. They will not be so fortunate a second time.”

ESIC will not make any comment regarding any player, coach or team involved in the resolution of any existing allegations, investigations or completed cases with agreed sanctions by plea bargain. ESIC is available for further comment on the general issue of stream sniping in CS:GO and other games.

 

-END-

For further information about ESIC, please contact: info@esic.gg

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October 23, 2020

Joint Statement by the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) and ESEA regarding sanctions against seven CS:GO players for betting offences

OVERVIEW

ESIC and ESEA have been jointly investigating multiple instances of breaches of ESIC’s Anti-Corruption Code within the Mountain Dew League (“MDL”) by several individuals.

In this statement, ESIC and ESEA issue the first formal findings resulting from the joint investigation in which seven CS:GO professionals have been issued with 12 month bans as a sanction for placing bets on MDL and other CS:GO matches in breach of both ESEA’s Rules and the ESIC Code.

INVESTIGATION OUTCOMES:

Summary of Outcomes

As a result of the joint investigation between ESIC and ESEA, ESIC has discovered that seven current CS:GO professionals playing in MDL Australia placed bets on MDL matches during their participation in the MDL (“Offending Parties”). Some of these individuals engaged in betting activity related to matches they were playing in themselves. Further to this, ESIC has identified that several associates of the Offending Parties also participated in betting activities related to the matches being played by the Offending Parties. In some instances, the associates placing bets mirrored identical bets to those placed by the Offending Parties.

These findings form part of a wider investigation and as such, ESIC will refrain from making further comments until other components of our investigation have been resolved. However, ESIC notes that the outcomes in this case do not exclude the possibility of additional outcomes relating to the Offending Parties and their respective teams and associates.

As the conduct of the Offending Parties observed by ESIC is in breach of Article 2.2 of ESIC’s Anti-Corruption Code (as well as ESEA’s tournament rules), ESIC and ESEA have sanctioned the players listed below, in accordance with Article 6 of the Anti-Corruption Code, with a ban of twelve months from all competitive CS:GO organised or promoted by ESIC members:

  1. Stephen “sjanastasi” Anastasi (LAKERS) [now playing as “stvn”]
  2. Akram “akram” Smida (Rooster) [now playing as “ADK”]
  3. Daryl “Mayker” May (Ground Zero)
  4. Corey “netik” Browne (Rooster) [sometimes spelt “nettik”]
  5. Damian “JD/The Real Goat” Simonovic (Rooster 2)
  6. Carlos “Rackem” Jefferys (Rooster 2)
  7. Joshua “jhd” Hough-devine (Rooster 2)

ESIC has, prior to the date of this release, issued the Offending Parties with Notices of Charge detailing the offense, ban applied and appeal mechanisms available to them.

Applicability of Sanctions Issued as a Result of the Investigation

As per all investigations conducted by ESIC, our determinations have effect across all of our membership. This includes members such as ESL, DreamHack, WePlay, BLAST, and many others.

ESIC also requests that all non-ESIC member tournament organisers honour these bans.

Further implications of breaches of the Anti-Corruption Code

Due to the nature of betting related offences (with certain betting activities potentially breaching criminal codes in particular jurisdictions) and ESIC’s relationships with several law enforcement entities internationally, including in Australia, ESIC has referred this matter to law enforcement.

Reminder to all professional players regarding betting activities

ESIC watches betting activity in esports for the purpose of protecting the industry against bad actors who wish to exploit the industry for personal gain. Without a unified understanding of the implications of inappropriate betting behaviour and observance of anti-corruption mechanisms (such as the Anti-Corruption Code), esports runs the risk of facilitating attractive fraud opportunities for bad actors. Accordingly, it is important that professional players understand that breaches of ESIC’s Anti-Corruption Code are a serious concern.

It is crucially important that professional players (at the very least) abstain from placing bets on the game in which they earn an income from in order to preserve the integrity of the esports landscape internationally and mitigate the potential for bad actors to take advantage of our sport.

For reference, an extract from the Anti-Corruption Code found on our website has been placed below:

ESIC Anti-Corruption Code (Article 2.2 Betting): 

The conduct described in the sub-Articles set out in Articles 2.1 – 2.4, if committed by a Participant, shall amount to an offence by such Participant under this Anti-Corruption Code:

2.2.1 Placing, accepting, laying or otherwise entering into any Bet with any other party (whether individual, company or otherwise and including any daily fantasy games in any jurisdiction where such games are regulated by a gambling authority or considered “betting” in a legal or regulatory sense and including “in-game” betting with in game items (eg skins etc that have real value)) in relation to the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of any Match or Event in the Game that the Participant plays professionally or is involved in any other capacity, such as manager, coach, agent etc.  Any Participant that has significant involvement (in the entire discretion of the Integrity Commissioner) in a number of Games (such as a team owner or other team official) may not place or otherwise enter into any Bet on any of the Games in which he/she is involved.

2.2.2 Directly or indirectly soliciting, inducing, enticing, instructing, persuading, encouraging, intentionally facilitating or authorising any other party to enter into a Bet in relation to the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of any Match.        

By understanding the implications of certain betting activities as well as adopting and maintaining a proactive stance on anti-corruption, players can assist us in contributing to the safe growth of esports, including their ability to earn an income as professionals.

Further updates regarding investigative activities into the MDL match fixing matters

ESIC is in the process of investigating additional breaches of the Anti-Corruption Code within the MDL in both Australia and North America. As these investigations relate to other behaviours such as match fixing, they have been significantly more complex. As previously mentioned by ESIC in its release dated 3 September 2020, there are a high volume of investigations being coordinated by ESIC relating to match manipulation behaviour. These complex investigations are also subject to necessary collaboration with law enforcement in various jurisdictions which, whilst helpful, does significantly slow progress. Accordingly, ESIC will issue further updates in due course as we work with stakeholders to finalise our investigations and we appreciate the community’s patience whilst this happens. 

Thanks

Cooperation between ESIC and all tournament organisers in relation to anti-corruption matters are, in ESIC’s view, essential in the pursuit of safeguarding esports. We appreciate the proactive efforts of the ESEA in working with us diligently to investigate any indication of malpractice by participants within the MDL. Furthermore, ESIC would like to thank our Anti-Corruption Supporters for their collaboration on the investigation so far.

For any further enquiries relating to this matter, please contact us at info@esic.gg.

 

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September 28, 2020

Esports Integrity Commission Findings from investigation into CS:GO Spectator Bug Exploitation

OVERVIEW:

On 4 September ESIC announced an investigation into the historical abuse of a bug in CS:GO’s spectator mode (Spectator Bug). ESIC contracted the services of Michal Slowinski (the discoverer of wrongful use of this exploit) to work with ESIC in the fulfilment of the inquiry. This statement sets out the findings of the first part of our investigation. ESIC has also decided to include additional information annexed to this statement in order to ensure the greatest possible transparency and understanding of our process and outcomes.

INVESTIGATION OUTCOMES:

Summary of outcomes

Below is a summary overview of the outcomes of the first part of our investigation:

  • ESIC initially estimated that it would need to review 25,000 demos in order to assess the exploitation of the Spectator Bug. When accessing the demo databases of both the ESEA and HLTV, ESIC retrieved 99,650 demos (approx. 15.2TB of data);
  • As of the date of this statement, ESIC has reviewed approximately 20% of the total demos available for review. However, ESIC notes that the demos already reviewed (which form the conclusions identified in this statement) likely comprise the most substantial cases of abuse.
  • Importantly, only 0.1% of the total demos available for review (99,650) have, as at the date of this statement, returned a positive indication of Spectator Bug abuse.
  • Upon investigation, we have identified evidence that the Spectator Bug had previously been referred to admins in various non-ESIC member tournaments as far back as 2017. ESIC is not aware of how these reports were treated by non-members as we do not have operational visibility of any actions that were taken. Accordingly, ESIC will not make any comment relating to prior reports of the Spectator Bug to tournament admins by individuals.
  • As a result of our investigations to date, ESIC has issued sanctions against 37 offending parties. The details of these sanctions are found in Annexure A attached to this statement which is titled ‘Sanction Outcomes’.
  • It is noted that ESIC could not ascertain, with any reasonable certainty, whether the teams related to the offending parties were complicit in the exploitation of the Spectator Bug at the time that the offences took place. As such, ESIC will not make a comment in this regard and encourages the community to refrain from speculation on this element.
  • ESIC anticipates that it will only need to issue one further report at the end of October which will conclude the investigation into Spectator Bug abuse (subject to additional complications that may arise during the investigative process).

 

What ESIC has done

In investigating the large volume of data provided to us by HLTV (some 15.2TB of demo footage), ESIC undertook the following methodology (more complex in reality, but simplified for ease of comprehension):

  1. Securing data from HLTV and ESEA servers;
  2. Parsing of data through particular parameters in order to detect bug exploitation;
  3. Flagging of key suspect demos for manual review;
  4. Manual review and analysis of key suspect demos and removal of false positives;
  5. Collation and categorization of positive instances of abuse;
  6. Various models of sanctioning matrix and concession matrix to act as standardized matrix to be used for determinations;
  7. Consultation with various industry stakeholders regarding reasonableness and proportionality of various models of sanctioning matrices and concession matrices;
  8. Identification of best suited sanctioning and concessions matrix and application to data set; and finally
  9. Determination of net bans on a per offender basis in accordance with the finalized sanctioning and concessions matrix, review and sign off by the commissioner.

ESIC wishes to commend HLTV and ESEA for allowing us full and unfettered access to their database of match demos. This allowed our investigators to quickly and effectively scan in excess of 96,500 demos for the purposes of the investigation. The results of this investigation along with the evidence relevant are set out in Annexure A.

Standardised sanctions and concessions matrix

ESIC believes that all sanctioning decisions must be proportionate, fair and consistent and we have gone to great lengths to ensure that the calculation of the sanctions imposed on the offending coaches comply with these standards. After modelling numerous options, we adopted the model outlined in Annexure B titled ‘Sanctions and Concessions Matrix’ as being the most appropriate.

In brief summary, the method utilised by ESIC allows it to:

  1. Identify trends in abuse of the Spectator Bug by analysing data points relevant to ‘frequency’ and ‘duration’ of abuse;
  2. Create consistent sanction tiers based on data within the sample being assessed;
  3. Apply appropriate and proportionate sanctions consistently across the entire data set based on the model;
  4. Apply appropriate and proportionate concessions for defined circumstances (e.g. confessions or assistance with investigation);
  5. Arrive at a net sanction which is consistent, data driven, and objectively ascertainable by reference to the model for each offending party.

Changes in prior bans issued by ESIC

ESIC notes that all three previously sanctioned coaches have had their penalties amended as a result of additional evidence uncovered during the investigation.

Applicability of sanctions issued as a result of the investigation

Sanctions issued by ESIC as a result of this investigation will mean that coaches affected:

  • must not actively or passively communicate with the team starting 15 minutes prior to the official match start up until the end of the match
  • must not be physically present around the team starting 15 minutes prior to the official match start up until the end of the match
  • must not be on the game server during official matches
  • must not be on the official match channel on the Discord server
  • must not be part of the official map veto process nor be in communication with the team during this process

As per all investigations conducted by ESIC, our determinations have effect across all of our membership, including ESL, DreamHack, WePlay, BLAST, Nodwin, Eden, LVP and others.

ESIC also asks all non-ESIC member tournament organisers to honour these bans for the purpose of protecting the CS:GO esports scene internationally.

ESIC welcomes any dialogue with these non-ESIC member tournament organisers relating to bolstering and harmonising competitive integrity for CS:GO.

Appeal Process

Any coach who wishes to contest his guilt may write setting out the grounds of his appeal to the Chairman of the Independent Disciplinary Panel, Kevin Carpenter, at kevin@captivatelss.com

Full terms and conditions and details of procedure and requirements will be sent to any appellant on request. Any party to an appeal will bear their own costs of appealing, but the Chairman may, in his entire discretion, make an award of costs against the losing party and that may include, if ordered, the costs of the hearing itself including his time or that of any panel member used.

Further Investigations and Reporting

ESIC originally estimated that the investigation would take approximately 8 months to complete, but, due to techniques developed in the interim and the extraordinarily hard work and dedication of the investigative team assigned to this project, we now expect to issue one further report at the end of October which will complete the investigation (subject to additional complications that may arise during the investigative process).

Investigation Funding

ESIC is a non-profit association which often faces large operational burdens in its efforts to maintain integrity within the esports industry. After the commencement of this investigation, ESIC made a request to its members for contributions towards the costs of the investigation. ESIC would like to make special mention of Rivalry.gg, DreamHack, and WePlay who have all made contributions to ESIC’s investigation into historical abuse of the spectator bug.

ESIC also acknowledges the various other ESIC members and industry stakeholders who have separately funded investigative activities prior to the commencement of ESIC’s formal investigation. Your commitment to integrity is valued and appreciated.

Message to the CS:GO community

We understand that these revelations have been tough for many people within the CS:GO community, but we believe it is in the long term best interests of the game and all of esports for integrity breaches to be dealt with head on. We know that most coaches, players, tournament organisers, publishers and developers, fans, sponsors and broadcasters want CS:GO and esports to be clean and a fair competition between players and teams doing their very best to win. We see our job as being to ensure that that happens and that corrupt and bad actors are rehabilitated or removed.

For any further enquiries relating to this matter, please contact us at info@esic.gg.