ESIC Hunting for CS:GO Tournament Cheaters, Bans 3 Coaches

The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) launched a massive investigation for the use of a bug exploit. ESIC will inspect tournament Demos going back as far as 2016. The esports integrity guardian revealed earlier this week that three coaches were already banned for using the exploit.

A Massive Investigation by the Esports Integrity Commission

The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) revealed today the start of an inquiry aiming at detecting, exposing, and punishing players and coaches which may have used a CS:GO exploit for advantage in tournaments. The exploit, known as “Spectator Bug” allowed the coaches to have a “free camera” giving them view to any location of the map during matches. With that bug, coaches may have transferred details used to their team’s advantage. The esports integrity guardian ESIC said that it will contract the services of Michal Slowinski and Steve Dudenhoeffer who are the discoverers of wrongful use of the bug.

ESIC said that upon finding any wrongdoing, standardized sanctions will be released. A public release of the sanctions will be revealed monthly. With that in mind, ESIC recognized that people sometimes make mistakes and then regret their decisions. Thus ESIC launched a confession period that will run from today through September 13, 23:00 CET. On the other hand, individuals who wanted to appeal a determination by ESIC can do so to the Independent Disciplinary Panel.

The Investigation May Last 8 Months and Will Oversee 25,000 Demos

ESIC believes that the exploit has been used for quite some time and it plans to go back as far as 2016. According to the esports integrity guardian, an approximate of 8 months will be needed to complete the investigation. Within that time, some 25,000 demos will be reviewed from matches in the period 2016-2020. The analysis will begin from 2020 progressing back in time to 2016. The investigation will cover all of the memberships by ESIC including ESL, DreamHack, BLAST, WePlay, Eden Esports, UMG, UCC, and more.

ESIC revealed that it will collaborate with HLTV.org. In its statement, ESIC thanked HLTV.org for their support in the investigation. An approximate of 5TB of demo footage stored on HLTV.org’s services will be used for the investigation. The esports integrity guardian noted that a considerable amount of resources will be needed for the investigation. ESIC added that the support of HLTV.org clearly states their appreciation for competitive integrity in CS:GO.

Three Coaches Already Banned by ESIC for Bug Exploitation

In a statement revealed earlier this week, ESIC announced the ban of three coaches. ESIC said that the behavior of the three coaches was in breach of its Code of Conduct and the actions can be described as “Cheating or attempting to cheat to win a Game or Match.” As a result, ESIC announced the following sanctions available across all ESIC member events:

• Ricardo ‘dead’ Sinigaglia received a ban from all ESIC member events for 6 months starting 31st August 2020
• Nicolai ‘HUNDEN’ Petersen received a ban from all ESIC member events for 12 months starting 31st August 2020
• Aleksandr ‘MechanoGun’ Bogatyrev received a ban from all ESIC member events for 24 months starting 31st August 2020

“A ban in this context means that an individual may not work in any capacity, be accredited for, provide services to, attend or otherwise be involved in any ESIC member organizations’ activities, events, tournaments or matches, including providing services in any capacity to any participating team or player in any relevant event,”

specified ESIC

As a part of ESIC’s Code, an opportunity was offered to all teams to appeal the decision to the ESIC Independent Disciplinary Panel. According to ESIC, with collaborative efforts, the industry can fight corruption and cheating in esports. ESIC also thanked all of the coaches, players, and teams that brought the bug to its attention. Michal Slowinski received special thanks from ESIC for its dedication and hard work.