Match-fixing at CS:GO tournaments, 6 gamers face up to 10 years in prison

6 gamers between the ages of 19 and 22 have just been arrested by Victoria (Australia) police on suspicion of behavior match-fixing at a CS:GO . tournament. The heaviest punishment these suspects face can be up to 10 years in prison. The case is still being investigated by the police and the identities of the gamers have not been revealed.
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The investigation began in March 2019 after the police received information about betting behavior at a CS: GO tournament, that some players intentionally arranged the results and at least 5 matches were canceled. affect. Currently, these 6 gamers have been temporarily released until the correct investigation results are available.

Assistant Commissioner Neil Paterson said this was the first Victoria Police investigation into cheating in eSports competition. Speaking to the press, he stated: “eSports is an emerging sports industry and with competition there will be fraud as a matter of course. Police and law enforcement will continue to investigate and impose appropriate punishment on all individuals who engage in suspicious behavior. Anyone with any information, please report it to us to facilitate the investigation process.”
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The truth is that for any game where there is competition, there is betting and once there is betting, there is bound to be fraud. CS: GO is no exception to this rule. The fact that professional Counter-Strike has gone through many match-fixing scandals has earned unscrupulous players thousands of dollars and led to numerous bans.

The once-popular match-fixing incident in CS:GO history must be mentioned is the iBuyPower case with NetcodeGuides in 2013. At that time, the match between these two teams had just started and it was almost immediately decided that the winner or loser, iBuyPower intentionally lost to the opponent with the aim of getting some $10,000 worth of game items. An investigation later revealed that team members had created fake accounts on gambling sites to bet on their own scores, dealing a fatal blow to the credibility of eSports competition. . After many scandals, Valve regularly opens investigations related to allegations that teams arrange to gain illicit profits and will severely punish if violations are found.
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With the case of these 6 gamers, once thoroughly investigated and according to Australian law, it seems that everything does not stop at a ban, but the penalty may be much heavier.