Arrested in 2019, five individuals now face up to10 years in prison on charges of fixing esports matches.
Five Men Charged with Match-Fixing in Esports
Australia has charged five men with match-fixingoffence in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in what is the country’sfirst dedicated crack-down on corruption in esports.
The corruption scandal focused on the semi-professionalgaming league ESEA-Mountain Dew League. Investigators from Victoria PoliceSporting Integrity Intelligence Unit charged the suspects last week and, iffound guilty, the men could face up to 10 years in prison.
The arrested individuals are mostly in their early 20s.Two 20-year old men and one 22-year old man from Mill Park were arrested in2019. Another 19-year old man – at the time of the arrest – was from SouthMorang. The police also arrested two other suspects from Mount Eliza. Theoldest man to be arrested was a 27-year old individual from Sale, Victoria.
It’s unclear whom of thesuspects apprehended back in 2019 was exonerated from the investigation, asthere were six men arrested, but only five have been charged.
The Suspects Knew Each Other
According to Assistant Commissioner Neil Paterson,the suspects targeted semi-professional competitions and allegedly won$30,000 on fixed matches on a single team that agree to “throw games”. Basedon reporting back in August 2019, the culprits placed as many as 20 bets.
The investigation launched back in March 2019 afterthe Victoria police was tipped off by a betting agency. At the time, as many assix people were investigated, but the police have now brought charges against fiveof the original suspects.
Commenting on the case back in 09, Peterson said thatesports was an emerging sporting industry and with that came a taste for bettingon matches and tournaments outcomes. The five suspects knew themselves prior tothe offense, Peterson confirmed.
They had gone to the same high school and university. They had no prior e haha777 ntanglements withpolice, Peterson clarified, and added:
“The sheer volume of young men involved in gambling, both inhigh school and in universities, is at epidemic proportions. What I’m notseeing is anyone doing anything particularly about that.”
All but the Esports Integrity Coalition (ESIC), which has been focused on protecting players and keeping esports clean from corruption.
Australia Leads the Way in Addressing Corruption in Esports
Australia isde facto the first country to take corruption in electronic sports seriously. Thecountry has inaugurated a new watchdog that will tackle fraud and corruption inboth segments – esports and sports.
The newly-appointed CEO, David Sharpe, who comes from ASADA, Australia’s Anti-Doping agency, is aware of corruption in esports as he has previously collaborated with organizations to address match-fixing and doping.
Peterson andSharpe are both aware that corruption in esports is taking on greater dimensionsand they both want to change that.
Handing downa 10-year prison sentence would most likely not come to pass, as Australia isprobably going to seek to raise awareness than penalize youngsters forexploiting what is still a grey industry.
