Two North American Dota 2 teams banned from all Valve events for match-fixing

Just days after the conclusion of the Dota Pro Circuit Season 2, Valve has banned two NA teams due to match-fixing. Wind and Rain and Pecado Squad Gaming are now banned from competing in International Regional qualifiers and all future Valve events.

Two Dota Pro Circuit Season 2: North American lower division teams, Wind and Rain and Pecado Squad Gaming are now banned for life from Valve events. The teams were guilty of match-fixing and irregular behavior that compromises the competitive integrity of the game.

The two teams last played in the lower division of the Dota Pro Circuit Season 2. Wind and Rain had a dismal season, losing almost all of its matches. Wind and Rain's only victory was a 2-0 victory over Pecado Squad Gaming.

After an investigation, the NA DPC League has announced it is taking action against two teams. The announcement comes just days after an anonymous redditor posted a thread about potential match-fixing in North American Dota 2. The match in question also included Wind and Rain as one of the participants.

The top two teams from the North American lower division qualify to the upper division bracket. This season its D2 Hustlers and Arkosh Gaming that comprised the top two teams. They will move to Division 1 for the next season replacing the bottom two teams who fall to the division 2. 

Several players accused of match-fixing have come forward allstating they believe they are innocent. The first was Szabo666, who replied to BTS' official announcement stating he was not involved in the match-fixing and was in fact the person who exposed the potential breach of the rules.

"I had suspicions of match-fixing and went to admins," said Szabo on Twitter. "I am in contact with relevant people and have been for a while on this exact issue. As far as I am aware , I'm the one who exposed all of the matchfixing in the first place."

Szabo only vouched for one his team-mate Borco, who left the team on May 13th, but did not do the same for SateSate, Yol and Sword who he said were brought in by the manager. Szabo went on to say he promises that he was not involved and that he had "proof to back it up".

Borco also took to Twitter to state his innocence. "Ending up the career like that it is not for me," said Borco. "I swear I’m not part of this and I had no idea what they were up to. Moreover, I only played 2 series and got kicked not knowing anything about them."

"There are many people who would like to have interview with me in Ukrainian, Kazakh, Russian and American esports portals. I really would like to thank everyone of you and yes, I will give an interview shortly. I just need a 1 or 2 day to comprehend everything because my career is on the line and I don’t want to be emotional. I think wisely and have a cold brain. Thank you very much for your attention and support you’ve been doing. I sincerely appreciate that," said Borco.

Valve does not tolerate match-fixing in any form at its events. Indeed, the game developer famously banned former CS:GO players for life after an investigation found them guilty of fixing matches for money. Some of those players have now moved on to Valorant even as Valve refuses to budge from its decision. 

There are currently over two dozen players banned from Valve events for match-fixing in Dota 2. The first bans date back to 2014 when Arrow Gaming was found guilty of match-fixing in the Synergy Cup and faking evidence. In 2016 players from Elite Wolves, Mineski, MsiEVOGT and Aces Gaming all received permabans. The most recent confirmed match-fixing scandal involved Newbee in 2020, the organisation that finished runners-up at TI7. All five of their players were banned for life from Valve events, including TI2 winner Zeng "Faith" Hongda.

Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest Dota 2 news and updates.