- ESIC issues bans to seven MDL Australia CS:GO players for betting related offences.
- The same has also been reported to the country's law enforcement.
- MDL match-fixing investigation is still going on but no set date of completion has been issued yet.
ESIC (Esports Integrity Commission) who had come forward to give an update on the MDL match-fixing investigation early last month has released another update in which they have issued “12-month bans to seven Australian CS:GO players for betting-related offences.”
They have also reported the same to the country’s law enforcement while stating that the MDL match-fixing investigation has not concluded yet due to the “complexities involved”. ESIC has not issued a set date till now as to when the investigation will be completed.
RELATED: ESIC Currently Investigating 15 Potential MDL Match-Fixing Instances in CS:GO
ESIC Bans 7 MDL Australia CS:GO Players
As per the report released by ESIC, the seven individuals were found guilty for placing bets on MDL Australia matches while participating in the competition themselves. A statement within the report highlighted that “Some of these individuals engaged in betting activity related to the matches they were playing in themselves.“ And not only the players but some of their close associates were also observed mirroring the same bets made by the accused on several occasions.
For now, ESIC has refrained from making further comments as these findings are just a part of a larger investigation however they state 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.”
These are the 7 players who have been handed a 12-month ban,
- Stephen "stvn" Anastasi
- Akram "ADK" Smida
- Daryl "Mayker" May
- Corey "nettik" Browne
- Damian "JD" Simonovic
- Carlos "Rackem" Jefferys
- Joshua "jhd" Hough-Devine
ESIC stated that in order to preserve the integrity of esports professional players need to abstain from such activities, something that Valve has already spoken on by recommending both current and upcoming professional players to “never bet on any CS:GO game or match.”
They further pointed out that due to the complex nature of match-fixing investigations they were dealing with a high volume of data and in some cases “necessary collaboration with law enforcement”, resulting in significantly slow progress.
