Only a few months after a number of professional Counter-Strike players received bans for betting on their own matches, the Esports Integrity Commission has issued sanctions “against 35 players for betting related offences”.
These offences took place in Australia, North America and Europe, and the ESIC are working with police in each territory, particularly in Australia where this kind of stuff can be breaking the law.
While the ESIC say the sanctions aren’t yet an example of match-fixing, they add that “there is a high possibility that it will issue match-fixing charges arising from the ongoing investigation”.
The bans, which range in severity from 12 months to 60 months, are for a combination of players betting on their own matches, betting against their team in competition and just generally betting on matches in competitions that they’re a part of.
