- Team Vitality has been issued a fine of $10,000 for stream-sniping by ESIC.
- The incident occurred two days ago during Vitality's match against Team Liquid at BLAST Premier: Global Final 2020.
- ESIC stated that there was no malicious intent detected by them and that Vitality's management took full responsibility for their actions while accepting the fine.
ESIC (Esports Integrity Commission) a day after issuing a ban against 35 CS:GO players for betting-related offences in Australia has hit the French esports organization Team Vitality with a $10,000 fine. The fine has been issued “in response to stream-sniping breach of the ESIC code” which occurred on 21st January while Team Vitality was playing against Team Liquid at BLAST Premier: Global Final 2020.
RELATED: ESIC Bans 35 CS:GO Players for Betting Related Offences in Australia
ESIC issues $10,000 fine to Vitality for stream-sniping
During Team Vitality’s match against Team Liquid in the upper bracket of BLAST Premier: Global Final 2020, many users from the CS:GO community had caught a glimpse of a CS:GO stream running in the background at Vitality’s bootcamp.
Upon closer inspection, the community had come to the conclusion that the stream was that of the match which Vitality was playing against Liquid at the time. This sparked off a debate around the topic of stream-sniping, something against which ESIC had issued a zero-tolerance policy in December last year.
Two days after the incident on 23rd Jan, ESIC has given their statement regarding alleged stream sniping/ghosting by Vitality at BLAST Premier. In an investigation launched by ESIC, they found out that the breach had occurred not only with Team Liquid but previously against Complexity (Map 2) also.
ESIC has clearly stated that no malicious intent was detected by them and that the players were offered no additional information of any kind to gain an advantage against their opponents. But to keep in line with their ‘zero-tolerance policy against stream-sniping’ a fine of $10,000 was issued which Team Vitality’s management has accepted.
The necessary changes have been made by Vitality’s management who take full responsibility for their actions and also apologise for hampering the integrity of the game in any way.
RELATED: ESIC Issues Rules Against CS:GO Stream Sniping
ESIC further clarified that the fine of $10,000 will not be kept with them instead the obtained amount would be donated to a “registered charity at the discretion of the ESIC Executive Board”.
Vitality is currently playing in the upper bracket finals of BLAST Premier: Global Final 2020 against Astralis, with the winner moving on to the grand finals while the loser drops down to the lower bracket final.
