Sometime ago, the official ESL twitter page tweeted the following image:
And shortly afterwards ESL replied to the same tweet:
By the looks of these images, it is evident that ESL has finally decided to bring about a massive change into their policies, policies concerning Cheating and Unfair Play. This happened after a survey conducted by the ESIC(Esports Integrity Coalition) found out that a majority of the people who were reviewed said ‘NO’ to permanent bans related to the IBP incident and other historic match-fixing cases and classified them as ‘too harsh’.
This is good news for the teams and the members of the teams who were deemed delinquent because ESIC has officially recommended ESL that these teams and their members be allowed to continue their CS:GO career without further blockades from the 1st of August 2017. ESL has happily complied to their terms and have made certain changes into their policies. Following these events, The ESIC Disciplinary Panel has rolled out new Anti-Corruption laws and regulations regarding the issue. They are as follows:
- Cheating: Disqualification from the tournament, results voided, forfeiture of prize money, ban between 2 year and lifetime depending on age and level of player and nature/size of tournament and how the player cheated (this offence includes “smurfing” where both parties involved are liable to sanctions). Cheating at a competition played above an amateur level (i.e. where significant prize pool is involved or qualification for a professional event is at stake) should normally result in a 5 year ban, but, in aggravating circumstances, can result in a lifetime ban.
- Match-Fixing/betting fraud: Results voided, 5 year ban unless significant mitigating factors in line with the ESIC Anti-Corruption Code or, in the presence of aggravating circumstances, a longer ban, forfeiture of prize money and monetary fine (if discovered before the end of a tournament, disqualification).
- Doping: Results voided, ban of between 1 and 2 years, forfeiture of prize money (if discovered before the end of a tournament, disqualification).
- Competition manipulation and bribery: Results voided, ban of between 1 and 2 years, forfeiture of prize money and monetary fine (if discovered before the end of a tournament, disqualification).
The Integrity Commissioner of ESIC, Ian Smith, commented:
“This is, of course, a great deal more that could be said about these survey results, but finding out what the community thinks has been a fascinating and revealing exercise and I respect their opinions. They are, after all, the lifeblood of esports and we must pay heed to their views. Having said that and having lived through the match-fixing scandals that affected traditional sports, I am troubled by what the survey reveals about the community’s understanding of and attitude towards match-fixing. The relationship between esports and gambling is new and still forming; but it is growing very rapidly and, when fans no longer believe what they’re watching is real, they will turn to other forms of entertainment. Match-fixing can have that effect – it can kill a sport and the community needs to understand that and realise that match-fixing is far more of a threat to their passion in the long term than cheating to win. ESIC will redouble its education efforts over the coming months to ensure we engage effectively with the community on this vital issue. At a personal level, I am not comfortable with lifetime bans for first offences. Taking the wider view, they are very hard to justify and my hope is that, in esports, they are very sparingly used. Of course, the best way to avoid a ban is not to cheat in the first place. I hope participants realise that their chances of being caught and punished have increased dramatically since the founding of ESIC.”
While match fixing and gambling still remains a threat to e-sports, this new change in rules is indeed very good news for players who have committed offences once and now want change and get off on the right track to pursue their dreams. For all we know, permanent punishments are extremely harsh and arbitrary and agonizingly crushes one’s hopes of aspiring in e-sports.