The Esports Integrity Commission has found evidence about potential match-fixing and betting-related frauds in CIS RMR matches. The EPIC CS:GO League, the CIS RMR event, has been the focus of controversy recently. The tournament lacked some basic safety precautions such as saving replays, anti-cheats and more. Amidst allegations of cheating against Akuma, a team that […]
The Esports Integrity Commission has found evidence about potential match-fixing and betting-related frauds in CIS RMR matches. The EPIC CS:GO League, the CIS RMR event, has been the focus of controversy recently. The tournament lacked some basic safety precautions such as saving replays, anti-cheats and more. Amidst allegations of cheating against Akuma, a team that surprised the biggest names in the tournament, ESIC has forwarded evidence of betting-related fraud to Valve.
The esports watchdog found evidence of several suspicious bets Oleksandr Shyshko, CEO of Project X. Project X is the team from which the current Akuma roster emerged. Shyshko made accurate pre-match bets on the Akuma-Virtus.Pro match.
Is Akuma cheating? CIS CS:GO teams definitely think so
Akuma faced off against Virtus.Pro in the upper bracket semifinals at the EPIC League CS:GO tournament. Virtus.Pro was the overwhelming favorite to win the series, but Akuma surprised everyone with a 2-0 victory. Shortly after this win, allegations of cheating and misconduct started doing the rounds in the CIS scene. With EPICENTER not recording replays and the lack of decent anti-cheat, it was difficult to conduct an investigation.
During the internal and external investigations, a large amount of information was collected about the actions of Akuma, the work of GOTV and the line administration of the tournament. The analysis of this information did not reveal any evidence of compromising the administration of the tournament and the work of GOTV. A review of Akuma players, their hardware and software revealed no signs of foul play.
Russian Esports Federation stands for fair esports and adheres a zero-tolerance policy for unfair play. However, the interpretation of the players' actions during the match cannot serve as a reliable confirmation of foul play. We have collected all the necessary information to make a decision, notified Valve and ESIC of the situation, and are ready, if necessary, to conduct a retrial with their participation, providing the full amount of information we have collected.
14 of the sixteen EPIC League CS:GO teams signed an open letter to Valve requesting a thorough investigation into these allegations. Team Unique was also a signatory to the letter. Akuma allegedly received data from third-party service providers helping the players gain crucial game-altering information.
ESIC stops short of conducting a full investigation, awaits Valve's decision
ESIC received information from the Suspicious Betting Alert Network (SBAN) that Oleksandr Shyshko has an active CSGO betting account. he placed numerous correct bets on matches where Project X was playing. The CEO also placed a correct bet on the Akuma-Virtus.Pro match which Akuma won 2-0.
“While ESIC has not undertaken a full investigation into the detail, extent, and validity of any particular instances of match-fixing behaviour and the perpetrators of such behaviour – information on hand would indicate that this is a matter worth investigating further; certainly, if ESIC did have jurisdiction, we would have opened a full investigation based on what we already know. ESIC has therefore referred the evidence available to us to Valve for further consideration.”
ESIC received the following information from the SBAN:
- Betting and client information;
- Match and player behaviour analysis data;
- Prior behaviour data;
- Other relevant information.
The Esports Integrity Commission stopped short of a full investigation as it does not have jurisdiction over the tournament. The EPIC League CS:GO is a Valve-sponsored event that serves as a qualifier to the $2 million PGL Stockholm Major.
ESIC is recommending to its Tournament Organiser members that they do not accept entries from Akuma or any team with a roster made up of more than 3 of the current Akuma players or any team associated with Oleksandr Shyshko.
However, ESIC has recommended to its member tournament organizers to stop receiving entries from the team until a full Valve investigation. ESIC has not issued any sanctions against the players/team as it does not have authority to conduct a full investigation.
Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest CS:GO news and updates.