35 more CSGO players banned by esports watchdog ESIC for betting offences
Valve / ESICAs many as three dozen more pro CSGO players have been handed competitive bans up to five years in length by the Esports Integrity Commission, following a joint ESIC and ESEA investigation uncovered multiple breaches of the Anti-Corruption Code in domestic Counter-Strike competitions.
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The ESIC confirmed the 35 bans in an official statement on Jan. 22.
The multitude of bans comes at the end of a near-two year process from the esports watchdog, who has been investigating match-fixing in Australia, America, and more recently several European competitions for the past 24 months.
In the report, ESIC confirmed that “a total of 35 individuals have been observed to be in breach of the Anti-Corruption Code administered by ESIC. This in addition to the initial six individuals previously sanctioned by ESIC on October 23, 2020.”
These betting breaches were reportedly conducted through Ladbrokes Australia’s gambling apps. The Sydney-based bookie assisted the ESIC investigation.
ESIC issues sanctions against 35 players for betting related offences & extends bans for 2 players previously sanctioned in October 2020.
ESIC will continue to investigate further offences in Australia, NA and Europe in cooperation with law enforcement.
(1/2) pic.twitter.com/KgVudv0d9t— ESIC (@ESIC_Official) January 22, 2021
In some cases, the ESIC report continues, several of the now-banned players also participated in “collusive behavior,” sharing details of fixed games with third parties which would lead to them “placing identical bets.”
Two more Australian players — first banned in October last year — also had their competitive sanctions increased following the discovery of similar offenses.
All offending CSGO players have also been “referred to law enforcement.”
ESIC/Valve/Unsplash: Alexander JawfoxFull list of banned CSGO players
The lengthy list of banned Australian players come from a multitude of orgs, and include at least one code-hoping convert who has recently made the switch to Valorant.
Joel ‘PEARSS’ Kurta, who spent six months playing for Ground Zero in 2020, has been handed a 12-month ban starting January 22. It is unclear how this will affect his competitive career, however, as he swapped to Valorant team “WaterBottle.”
Ground Zero player, Andy ‘Noobster’ Zhang, also received a lengthy ban. The 24-year-old, who most recently was a stand-in for AVANT, was handed a three-year suspension.
The thirty-five banned CSGO players were in breach with Article 2.2 of ESIC’s Anti-Corruption Code, as well as ESEA’s standing MDL tournament rules.
The longest ban was for Wilson ‘willyks’ Sugianto (60 months).
Banned duo Daryl ‘Mayker’ May (previously Ground Zero) and Akram ‘ADK’ Smida (previously Rooster) also had their sanctions amended. Smida’s ban has been increased to 24 months, while May is now set for four years on the sideline.
Banned players
- Jeremy “motion” Lloyd (Control) — 12 months
- Patrick “falcon” Romano De Sousa (Control) — 12 months
- Johnathan “Del” Sackesen (Lese) — 12 months
- Grayson “vax” Uppington (Overt) — 12 months
- Aidan “meta” Wiringi Jones (Overt) — 12 months
- Kaito “minusthecoffee” Massey (Aftermind) — 12 months
- Mason “msn” Trevaskis (Aftermind) — 12 months
- John “jcg” Grima (Integral Nation) — 12 months
- Isaac “prodigy” Dahlan (Integral Nation) — 12 months
- Billy “beetee” Thomson (Integral Nation) — 12 months
- Kieren “Muzoona” Jackson-Clapper (Integral Nation) — 12 months
- Matthew “zilla” Zdilar (Mako) — 12 months
- James “roflko” Lytras (Vertex) — 12 months
- Damon “damyo” Portelli (LAKERS) — 12 months
- Jak “jtr” Robinson (Rooster 2) — 12 months
- Daniel “rekonz” Mort (R!OT Gaming) — 12 months
- Nicolas “lato” Gullotti (Skyfire) — 12 months
- Marcus “mdk” Kyriazopoulos (really weird) — 12 months
- Joel “pearss” Kurta (Waterbottle, Valorant) — 12 months
- James “jamie” MacPhail (Downfall) — 12 months
- Ioan (Ionica) “bowie” Tuleasca (Lese) — 12 months
- Joshua “joshaaye” Wilson — 12 months
- Ryan “kragz” Clarke (Incept) — 12 months
- Roman “matr1kz” Santos (Forbidden) — 24 months
- Cailan “caily” Lovegrove (Aftermind) — 24 months
- Andy “Noobster” Zhang (Ground Zero) — 36 months
- Jayden “foggers” Graham (Control) — 48 months
- Sam “tham” Mitchell (Buckets) — 48 months
- Mate “habbo hotel” Poduje (LAKERS) — 48 months
- Samuel “samy” Jarvis (Caught off Guard) — 48 months
- Daniel “deezy” Zhang (Aftermind) — 48 months
- John “wots” Zhu (Forbidden) — 48 months
- Matthew “jam” Castro (Overt) — 60 months
- Alvin “Gravins” Changgra — 60 months
- Wilson “willyks” Sugianto (Vertex) — 60 months
Amended bans
- Akram “ADK” Smida (Rooster) — 24 months (from 12)
- Daryl “Mayker” May (Ground Zero) — 48 months (from 12)
ESIC has already issued all offending players with notice of charge, which details the offense, and available appeal mechanisms. All impacted parties are now eligible to appeal their Counter-Strike charges by emailing Kevin Carpenter, chairman of the Independent Disciplinary Panel.
For a full breakdown of ESIC’s investigation, details of specific matches where the bug was used, and an explanation of the sanctions, read the full report here.
ESIC concluded their report with a message to the CSGO community:
“It is crucially important that professional players abstain from placing bets on the game in which they earn an income from,” the esports watchdog wrote, “in order to preserve the integrity of the esports landscape internationally and mitigate the potential for bad actors to take advantage of our sport.”