The FBI is investigating cheats in professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive matches in North America.
As detected by Kotaku, the commissioner of the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC), Ian Smith, said the organization was working alongside the FBI in an ongoing investigation into “a relatively small but significant group of players over a long period of time, organizing matchmaking in the North American CDM” .
“[It’s] what I would describe as classic match-fixing – players being bribed by outside betting syndicates to fix matches, rather than players just doing it on their own in an opportunistic way. It’s been going on for longer, [and] it’s much more organized, “Smith told YouTuber slash32.
“So again, to some extent, we are working with law enforcement and the FBI, which only recently had a sports betting investigative unit within the FBI. They are good, but they are inexperienced because sports betting has never been a big deal in America until recently, so everyone is kind of getting used to it.
As for the Australian investigation underway? In January, ESIC announced sanctions against 35 Australian CS: GO players who violated its Anti-Corruption Code, just behind the seven who received sanctions in October 2020. Two players who were sanctioned last year also had their bans extended.
Sanctions were issued to players who bet on matches at ESIC members’ events, including their own matches or those of their team. Bans range from a 12-month “level one” ban for players who bet on games, to a 60-month level five ban for aggravated bets against their own team.
Smith says we will hear more about these charges soon.
“I am optimistic that we will be able to make this public soon, in the next 10 days to two weeks,” added the commissioner. “The betting scandal in Australia, where although it was a large group of players – and there is definitely match fixing there, and we are working with law enforcement there, it takes a lot more time there when you start working with the police.
“Fortunately, in Australia, these are crimes. So coordinating everything with the police takes a lot more time. We have great solid cases there, and if it were just us acting alone, we would announce these processes now. But not all 42 guys were betting – it’s a much smaller group within it that was not just betting, but manipulating the results. “