Sibol Dismisses West Point Esports Cheating Allegations

The national esports team of the Philippines, Sibol has officially released a statement following an investigation regarding the alleged cheating incident of West Point Esports (WPE) during the national team selection. The organization came to the conclusion that WPE did not cheat due to insufficient evidence to support the claims. Sibol also noted that its policies are strictly being followed and each team was monitored to prevent any form of cheating or exploits. This makes any form of questionable behavior during the Sibol Qualifiers impossible or impractical. This statement received mixed reactions from fans with some leaving sarcastic comments on the post.

Sibol announces investigation results for West Point Esports cheating allegations

The Sibol national team representative for the League of Legends PC esports, WPE received backlash from the community for allegedly sporting unprofessional behavior during local tournaments and cheating during the Sibol Qualifiers.

Following this, Sibol posted the result of its investigation, revealing that the evidence presented was not enough to support the allegations. Through a Facebook post, the organization revealed why it came to the conclusion.

“After reviewing the allegations against Team Sibol LoL (PC) and much painstaking deliberation, Sibol Management has come to the conclusion that there is insufficient evidence to substantiate the claims of illegal or unsportsmanlike activities during the Sibol National Team Selection 2022,” Sibol captioned.

According to the management, it has contacted the League Operations and Broadcast team who were in charge of the Sibol National Team Selection 2022 tournament where they explained that the multiple security protocols “made cheating during the event impossible or impractical and futile.”

Stream sniping was impossible due to the default three-minute delay for livestreams as the organizers were not able to secure a tournament server from Riot Games. Another three-minute delay was added for the Facebook livesteam, totalling a six-minute delay, which made it harder to stream snipe the tournament.

Mirror in-game gameplays in Discord were also prohibited by the organizers as they also used it to get player camera feeds.

Sibol also stated that one of the players asked permission to stream the event on his Facebook account. The marshals declined this request and the player was asked to turn off the stream before the match started.

Despite Sibol’s lengthy explanation regarding the WPE allegations, some fans were not convinced. The pro player, Jerem Malig, who made the allegations in the first place shared his disappointment as Sibol allegedly did not reach out to him for clarification.

“How do you finish a case without contacting the one who made the ‘allegations’?” commented Jerem. “It's my turn. Wait for it.”

Sibol finished its statement with a promise that it “has and will always remain vigilant in policing practices and behavior unbecoming of the Filipino athlete.“

The Philippines national team is now preparing to participate in the upcoming 31st Southeast Asia (SEA) Games where it shall compete in various esports titles and aim for a gold medal run.