More and more StarCraft professionals are beginning to come forward about match fixing in the wake of the recent scandal and subsequent arrests going down in South Korea right now. But one player today shed more light on the situation, revealing the extent to which he had been targeted by fixers.
Image courtesy of Teamliquid.net
The information came directly from Kim “TOP” Jung Hoon, one of the longer serving professionals in the game. TOP’s reputation was largely built at the very start of StarCraft 2, enjoying deep runs through the initial days of the Global StarCraft 2 League (GSL).
He retired a few years later but made a comeback last year for French team Invasion eSport, although his results have been hardly spectacular. Nevertheless, that didn’t prevent him from being targeted by illegal gambling rings. It may have even made him an easier prospect.
I wanted to write something regarding the matchfixing scadnal that broke out rec
Read: http://t.co/XeRB2ybhOe
— 김정훈 (@SC2_TOP) October 19, 2015
“He tempted me with lines like ‘just fix this one game and you’ll be playing more regularly in Proleague, earn a ton of money,’ etc. I didn’t want to earn money that way, I would’ve rather died from starving than do such a thing so I told him to stop contacting me,” the Terran wrote on Twitlonger.
Jung Hoon added that other professional players within South Korea have told him that “there was a broker on their [arse] — harassing them non-stop”. “On top of this a few brokers have been actively harassing me and my family because I’ve refused to fix their games for [Legacy of the Ultras League].”
“On top of this, I’m still not clear of suspecion. I’ve had 3-4 offers so far and I’ve declined them all in a heart beat, I don’t want to earn money that way and would never do it because of the respect I have for the community, my integrity, fans and everyone else involved.”
South Korea’s latest betting scandal is far from finished, and more and more players are talking to journalists and people directly through social media about their experiences. Two life bans have already been issued as well, and they may not be the only ones — or players implicated — if brokers have had this amount of contact with current and former pros.
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