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ESIC hand down ruling in EWC Dota match-fixing case: Lifetime ban for coach as DarkMago gets a nickel

Michael Hassall
Michael Hassall Published 10/09/2026
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South American Dota 2 player Gonzalo “DarkMago” Herrera will be banned for five years from competitive Dota 2, with his coach Juan “Vintage” Angulo banned permanently, following the results of an The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) investigation.

ESIC handed down the findings and rulings from its investigation into match-fixing allegations leveled at members of South American Dota 2 team PlayTime during the Esports World Cup on Sep. 10, in a post on their official website.

In the post, ESIC explained the reasoning and sanctions behind their ban, as well as the scope of their enforcement.

Vintage pictured at PGL Wallachia Season 1. Image Credit: PGL.

ESIC bans PlayTime coach Vintage for life and DarkMago for 5 years

On July 15 this year, Filipino organization PlayTime Esports was removed from the Esports World Cup after a dramatic intervention by the Esports Integrity Commission. Subsequent reports revealed that allegations of match-fixing had been leveled against two of the team’s members, DarkMago team captain and mid lane player, and Vintage, the team’s coach and sporting director.

Now, just under two months later, ESIC has revealed its findings, stating that coach Vintage had directly conspired to attempt to cause a 0-2 result during the July 7 matchup between PlayTime and Team Liquid. In their report, ESIC explained that Vintage had been part of an agreement to cause the game to end in a score of 0-2, and attempted to create that outcome, something that failed during the match.

Image Credit: ESIC

Despite the fix being unsuccessful, the coach was in violation of six articles of the ESIC Anti-Corruption Code, a code all participants in ESIC partner events are beholden to, and two violations of the ESIC Code of Conduct. As a result, Vintage is now permanently banned from all ESIC partner events.

Dark Mago was not found to have participated in attempting to fix the match, but was party to the conversation, and as a result, did not disclose or report the potential fix. For these violations, ESIC handed down a five-year ban.

Notably, these bans only apply to ESIC partner events. As a result, technically, DarkMago and Vintage (at the time of writing) will not be banned from PGL events, The International, or other unaffiliated tournaments, such Games of the Future.

The bans come as the South American Dota 2 receives even more scrutiny after months of controversy during Dota 2’s ‘championship season.’ Just a few weeks after the PlayTime removal and investigation, LGD Gaming’s Santiago “TaiLung” Agüero Gustavo was banned from TI15 and all subsequent PGL events due to alleged match-fixing. ESIC’s investigation into TaiLung is ongoing.

Featured Image Credit: Esports World Cup/Esports Foundation

Michael Hassall Michael Hassall
About Michael Hassall

Michael is an eight-year veteran of games writing and has been playing games for as long as he can remember. With bylines across the internet, he has used his expertise to cover esports, prediction markets, mainstream gaming, streamers and more.

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