Last July, esports organisation ESL lifted the lifetime ban on tournament participation from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players who had been caught cheating or participating in match-fixing schemes. The new sanctions now call for a two-year ban on cheaters and a five-year ban on match fixers, with the potential for longer bans in extreme cases. This week, esports tournament organisation DreamHack joined ESL in implementing the same rule changes and lifting prior lifetime bans.
Early this morning, esports organisation ESL announced a number of changes to its rules regarding cheating, doping, bribery and, most notably, match-fixing. In accordance with these changes, four former players from iBuyPower who were lifetime banned for fixing a match will be allowed to compete in ESL events.
The coach and manager of Korean Overwatch team Luminous Solar have been charged with fixing the wildcard qualifier match for OGN APEX Challengers Season 3, according to a report from Inven.
He's not even 20. But over the last few years, Lee "Life" Seung established himself as one of the world's most dominant StarCraft 2 players.
Life found himself in the spotlight for the wrong reasons earlier this year though when he was taken into custody by the Changwon District Prosecutor's Officer. The Zerg player has since been charged for receiving 70 million won for deliberately throwing two KeSPA Cup matches last year.
Roughly a fortnight after 24/7 eSports made a splash by recruiting Vietnamese Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team Skyred, following some impressive international performances earlier in the year, the Australian organisation has dumped their foreign superstars amid claims of match-fixing.
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.
South Korea is being rocked by another betting scandal, although thankfully it's not as long-running and as severe as the one that rocked the StarCraft: Brood War scene several years ago.
12 people have been charged in connection with the scheme, and the prosecutors report has outlined which games they believe were rigged.
Team Liquid is reporting that up to eleven people have been arrested in Korea in association with allegations of match-fixing and illegal gambling on StarCraft II matches.
