Bans handed down
The world of eSports has a Pete Rose-style controversy on its hands. Yesterday, Valve levied a series of bans againstCounter-Strike: Global Offensiveplayers that were found to be involved in a gambling scandal that included match-fixing.
In a post titled “Integrity and Fair Play,” Valve confirms that it substantiated allegations of match-fixing between players from iBUYPOWER and NetCodeGuides.com. The exposé, which came fromThe Daily Dot, reports that a gambler with strong connections to both teams won more than $10,000 through a series of unusual bets. Valve’s investigation led it to corroborate the claims.
Valve denounced the actions in its post, and reiterated ground rules for its game at a competitive level by saying “Professional players, their managers, and teams’ organization staff, should under no circumstances gamble onCS:GOmatches, associate with high volumeCS:GOgamblers, or deliver information to others that might influence theirCS:GObets.” Those seven will be stuck in a long timeout to think about what they’ve done.
Integrity and Fair Play[Counter-Strike]New evidence points to match-fixing at highest level of American Counter-Strike[The Daily Dot]ESEA bans ex-iBP “indefinitely”[HLTV.org]
