ESIC hands out multiple bans in a single day

ESIC has had an eventual month so far and has returned with more, handing out multiple bans and suspensions yesterday. Starting off, the esports watchdog announced immediate suspension of team NOMERCY's players János “James8k” Fodor, Sreten “srtn1” Smiljanić, Oliver “kzy” Heck, Petar “perakokanje” Bešir and Palkovics “playN” Tamás amidst ongoing investigation.

Team NOMERCY drew massive attention when they attended the Roman Imperium Cup VII and flunked out in the last place. It wasn't their performance that caught eyes but a screenshot that surfaces on social media showing a massive $57,000 USD multi-bet placed on the team's matches with a -9.5 handicap on their opponents. The bet ended up yielding $4.5 million but the tournament organizer claims that the bet was voided by the bookmaker.

ESIC's investigation towards the case revolves around but not limited to uspicious and abnormal betting patterns, inconsistent gameplay behavior and contextual integrity as mentioned in their press release.

The next case becomes much more serious, involving use of actual cheating software in the competitive space. In their verdict ESIC has brought the ban hammer down on the following players:

• Egor “Zly” Polyakov (Lifetime ban)

• Dimitriy “Propleh” Senigov (5 Years)

• Alexandr “ruler” Maximov (5 Years)

• Peter “Damiel” Markheev (5 Years)

ESIC handed Zly a permanent ban due to the "severity of the conduct" and formal admission of guilt, while the rest scrape through with 5-year bans either due to lack of acknowledgement/admission or admission of guilt through unqualified responses. ESIC did not provide an elaboration of the latter but mentioned that their investigations confirmed the use of cheating software and DMA-based tools while competing at officials.