ESIC Issues Sanctions Against 35 Individuals for Betting Offences

Summary of ESIC Investigation Outcomes

Throughout the course of its investigation, ESIC has received and relied upon information from its Anti-Corruption Supporters as well as other information discovered by ESIC in executing further research and information gathering exercises.

A summary overview of the outcomes reached as a result of the investigations conducted by ESIC into the adverse behaviour of participants during ESEA competitions in Australia is set out below:

• A total of 35 individuals have been observed to be in breach of the Anti-Corruption Code administered by ESIC. This is in addition to the initial 7 individuals previously sanctioned by ESIC on 23 October 2020.
• In addition to the sanctions issued against 35 individuals, the sanctions against two of the individuals previously sanctioned by ESIC on 23 October 2020 have been increased due to newly available evidence.
• ESIC has issued sanctions against all 35 individuals. The sanctions issued by ESIC were determined on the basis of the behaviours observed and perpetrated by the individuals on a scale explained below.
• The offending behaviours which are addressed within this release include:
  • Betting on matches in ESIC member events;
  • Betting on an individual’s own matches in ESIC member events; or
  • Betting against an individual’s own team in ESIC member events.
• ESIC has referred the matter in its entirety to law enforcement for investigation.
• In addition to the individuals sanctioned by ESIC, a number of non-player associates who appear to have been participating in adverse betting behaviours have also been detected and referred to law enforcement for investigation.
• This release does not deal with ascertaining or alleging the presence of match fixing, although the strong possibility of this in a number of cases is still under investigation by both ESIC and law enforcement.

Investigation Results

During the course of ESIC’s investigation into betting behaviour violations of participants in Australian CS:GO member events (“Offending Parties”), ESIC detected three main categories of betting behaviours which violate the Anti-Corruption Code.

These behaviours include:

1. Betting on matches in ESIC member events;
2. Betting on an individual’s own matches in ESIC member events; or
3. Betting against an individual’s own team in ESIC member events.

As the conduct of the Offending Parties observed by ESIC is in breach of Article 2.2 of ESIC’s Anti-Corruption Code (as well as ESEA’s tournament rules), ESIC and ESEA have issued sanctions against the Offending Parties, in accordance with Article 6 of the Anti-Corruption Code. The Offending Parties and their respective sanctions are detailed in Sanction Outcomes which is annexed to this release and marked Annexure A.

In addition to ESIC’s detection and prosecution of Offending Parties, ESIC also detected the presence of collusive behaviour by close associates of the Offending Parties. ESIC observed several instances where close associates of various Offending Parties placed identical bets to those placed by Offending Parties. Whilst ESIC has no jurisdiction to deal with these Individuals, we have referred their behaviour to law enforcement for investigation as being potentially in breach of criminal law.

Sanctions Issued

In determining the sanctions to issue against Offending Parties, ESIC formulated a “Sanctions Matrix” in order to ensure that the punishments issued by ESIC were consistent and proportional to the offences.

After a detailed analysis of the large amount of evidence available to ESIC provided by Anti-Corruption Supporter member bookmakers, it was determined that five levels of sanctions would be applicable to the data set available to ESIC in the resolution of this portion of our investigation. These “Levels of Sanction” are outlined on the following page in brief detail for the purpose of facilitating an understanding of the derivation of the sanctions issued against the Offending Parties.

Table 1 – Sanctions Matrix

The Offending Parties and their respective sanctions are detailed in Sanction Outcomes which is annexed to this release and marked Annexure A.

ESIC has, prior to the date of this release, issued the Offending Parties with Notices of Charge detailing the offence, ban applied and appeal mechanisms available to them.

Amendments to previously issued sanctions

In addition to the newly issued sanctions against 35 Offending Parties, ESIC has also amended its sanctions against the two players which were previously sanctioned on 23 October 2020. The details of the amended sanctions are found in Table 2 below:

Table 2 – Amended Sanctions

Applicability of sanctions issued as a result of the investigation

As per all investigations conducted by ESIC, our determinations have effect across all of our membership. This includes ESL, DreamHack, WePlay, BLAST, LVP, Nodwin, Eden, Relog, UCC, Allied, Kronoverse, Estars and 247 Leagues.  ESIC also requests that all non-ESIC member tournament organisers honour these bans.

Further implications of breaches of the Anti-Corruption Code

Due to the nature of betting related offences (with certain betting activities potentially breaching criminal codes in particular jurisdictions) and ESIC’s relationships with several law enforcement entities internationally, including in Australia, ESIC has referred this matter to law enforcement.

Reminder to all professional players regarding betting activities

ESIC closely monitors betting activity in esports for the purpose of protecting the industry against bad actors who wish to exploit the industry for personal gain. Without a unified understanding of the implications of inappropriate betting behaviour and observance of anti-corruption mechanisms (such as the Anti-Corruption Code), esports runs the risk of facilitating attractive fraud opportunities for bad actors. Accordingly, it is important that professional players understand that breaches of ESIC’s Anti-Corruption Code are a serious concern.

It is crucially important that professional players (at the very least) abstain from placing bets on the game from which they earn an income in order to preserve the integrity of the esports landscape internationally and mitigate the potential for bad actors to take advantage of our sport.