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News video games 25 January 2021, 17:45

Bans in CS:GO for Betting on Matches

New examples of unfair behavior in esports have come to light. This time ESIC (Esports Integrity Commission) has targeted CS:GO players for betting on matches. Some have been banned for as much as 5 years.

Not long after a wave of bans for coaches in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive esports scene, another high-profile case is about to unfold - this time involving players who bet on matches at bookmakers. ESIC (Esports Integrity Commission), which investigates cases of fraud in esports, published a report that summarizes the results of the investigation.

Thirty-five players who violated the Anti-Corruption Code were banned from professional competitions. The duration of their bans is, depending on the severity of the offense, from one to even five years. ESIC's document focuses mainly on players from the Australian region.

The penalties are given on a five-level scale:

  • Level 1: Betting on matches - 12 months
  • Level 2: Betting on one's own matches - 24 months
  • Level 3: Serious betting (betting on more than ten matches) - 36 months
  • Level 4: Betting against one's own team - 48 months
  • Level 5: Betting against own team in more than ten matches - 60 months

In the statement the commission stresses that it is not only betting against one's own team, but also any betting on the results in one's own backyard that is detrimental to the scene. This is because it cannot be ruled out that the player in question may have had access to confidential information regarding a match that may have been fixed.

Players have been banned from all organizations that work with ESIC, including but not limited to: ESL, DreamHack, Eden, BLAST or WePlay.

The list of banned players is as follows:

  1. Jeremy "motion" Lloyd - 12 months
  2. Patrick "falcon" Romano De Sousa - 12 months
  3. Jonathan "Del" Sackesen - 12 months
  4. Grayson "vax" Uppington - 12 months
  5. Aiden "meta" Wiringi Jones - 12 months
  6. Kaito "minusthecoffee" Massey - 12 months
  7. John "jcg" Grima - 12 months
  8. Isaac "prodigy" Dahlan - 12 months
  9. Billy "beetee" Thomson - 12 months
  10. Kieren "Muzoona" Jackson-Clapper - 12 months
  11. Matthew "zilla" Zdilar - 12 months
  12. James "roflko" Lytras - 12 months
  13. Damon "damyo" Portelli - 12 months
  14. Jak "jtr" Robinson - 12 months
  15. Daniel "rekonz" Mort - 12 months
  16. Nicolas "lao" Gulloti - 12 months
  17. Marcus "mdk" Kyriazopoulos - 12 months
  18. Joel "pearss" Kurta - 12 months
  19. James "jamie" MacPahil - 12 months
  20. Ioan (Ionica) "bowie" Tuleasca - 12 months
  21. Joshua "joshaaye" Wilson - 12 months
  22. Ryan "kragz" Clarke - 12 months
  23. Stephen "sjanastasi" Anastasi - 12 months
  24. Damian "jd" Simonovic - 12 months
  25. Carlos "rackem" Jefferys - 12 months
  26. Joshua "jhd" Hough-Devine - 12 months
  27. Corey "netik (aka nettik)" Browne - 12 months
  28. Roman "matr1kz" Santos - 24 months
  29. Cailain "caily" Lovegrove - 24 months
  30. Akram "adk" Smida - 24 months
  31. Andy "Noobster" Zhang - 36 months
  32. Jayden "foggers" Graham - 48 months
  33. Sam "tham" Mitchell - 48 months
  34. Mate "habbo hotel" Poduje - 48 months
  35. Samuel "samy" Jarvis - 48 months
  36. Daniel "deezy" Zhang - 48 months
  37. John "wots" Zhu - 48 months
  38. Daryl "mayker" May - 48 months
  39. Matthew "jam" Castro - 60 months
  40. Alvin "Gravins" Changgra - 60 months
  41. Wilson "willyks" Sugianto - 60 months

ESIC has announced that the investigation into betting among pro players will continue. In the future, we can expect similar statements regarding the US and European CS:GO scenes.

Michal Ciezadlik

Michal Ciezadlik

Joined GRYOnline.pl in December 2020 and has remained loyal to the Newsroom ever since, although he also collaborated with Friendly Fire, where he covered TikTok. A semi-professional musician, whose interest began already in childhood. He is studying journalism and took his first steps in radio, but didn't stay there for long. Prefers multiplayer; he has spent over 1100 hours in CS:GO and probably twice as much in League of Legends. Nevertheless, won't decline a good, single-player game either.

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