ESIC, or Esports Integrity Coalition, has released a full statement on the case regarding allegations against the ESL Rainbow Six Pro League.
There were two separate allegations, one of match fixing and another on boosting. One was that PENTA Sports deliberately underperformed against GiFu in order to deny Seach Orga a place in the LAN final and/or because they (PENTA Sports) did not want to go to the final.
The other was that FENIX deliberately boosted PENTA Sports’ league position by withdrawing from the League just before week 7 commenced. The fact that 2 members of the former FENIX roster joined PENTA Sports some six weeks later is cited as “evidence” that the advantage PENTA Sports received was planned.
This is ESIC’s first official decision, and the non profit organisation’s official Twitter account referred to it as a ‘difficult investigation, but necessary’.
The statement on the ESIC site read as follows: “ESIC were asked to investigate allegations of breaches of the Anti-Corruption Code in Season 2 of the Rainbow 6 Pro-League by FENIX and PENTA Sports.
“Normally and in accordance with the Code, ESIC would not comment on investigations that are in progress or have concluded that there is no case to answer, but the allegations in this case have given rise to a great deal of accusation, speculation and comment on social media and we conclude, therefore, that exceptional circumstances exist and it is in the relevant teams’ and the League’s best interest that ESIC make a public statement.”
The statement went on to give specific details of why it decided there was no case in either allegation. Here is each statement in full below:
“In respect of allegation 1: It was known from at least week 4 of the League that members of PENTA Sports’ roster were leaving at the end of the season and it was well known that PENTA Sports were talking to many players about joining them at the end of the season, including members of FENIX, not all of whom joined PENTA Sports between seasons 2 and 3. Equally, it was known that FENIX was considering disbanding well in advance of the alleged conspiracy. In any event, ESIC could find no compelling evidence of a conspiracy in July between PENTA Sports and FENIX or those members of FENIX that joined PENTA Sports in August.”
“In respect of allegation 2: There was no betting on the game (well over 90% of match-fixing is motivated by betting fraud), which raises a serious issue of motive that could not be overcome in ESIC’s opinion. In other words, why would PENTA Sports throw the match? Enmity towards another team (in this case allegedly Seach Orga) is unlikely to motivate anyone sufficiently to lose out on prize money and prestige and risk incurring the displeasure of one’s employer. Not wanting to go to the final may mean a team is not as motivated as it should be, but it usually would not mean that a team is actively motivated to deliberately lose. In any event, ESIC finds the alleged unwillingness to go to the final unproven.”
ESIC did close by welcoming any further evidence that any individual may have to hand. They can send this to [email protected].
Esports Insider says: This is the first decision to come from ESIC and despite the outcome it remains testament to the need for such a regulatory body in esports. It was clearly a highly detailed investigation that went into the case, and it’s this type of policing which will work towards stamping out such practices across esports as a whole.