PlusOne banned from BTS Pro Series Season 2 for match fixing
Another match fixing scandal has hit Dota 2’s professional scene.
Beyond the Summit has announced the ejection of PlusOne from its ongoing BTS Pro Series Season 2: Americas event due to alleged match fixing incidents. Alongside this, the tournament organizer has issued indefinite bans from any BTS-organized tournaments to players Chedrin “Ched” Asinas, Yixaun "xuan" Guo, and Alejandro “Jano” Moreno.
“Team PlusOne have been removed from BTS Pro Series due to multiple, confirmed incidents of match fixing. All previous match results will be nullified. We have provided relevant information and evidence to Valve. PlusOne are currently banned from all future BTS tournaments,” BTS said on Twitter.
All of PlusOne’s games in the event have been reverted to 0-2 losses and they were issued forfeit losses for each of their upcoming series in the BTS Pro Series’ group stage. PlusOne had a 4-8 record in the group stage. It is not clear which particular series the team is accused of fixing, though some claims have been made.
We are continuing to investigate all the incidents involving these players.
— Beyond the Summit (@BeyondTheSummit) June 22, 2020
At this time, we are indefinitely suspending xuan, Ched, & Jano from competing in all BTS events.
The other two players, dnm & Wij, are permitted to compete in future BTS tournaments at this time.
BTS announced that the other two members of PlusOne, Nicolás "Wij" Moreno and David “dnm” Cossio, were not being issued the same indefinite ban as their teammates. This suggests that either the match fixing was perpetrated by their teammates' acting alone, or that tournament officials simply lacked the needed evidence to confirm Wij or dnm's involvement.
Match fixing issues continue to plague Dota 2
Match fixing is a major problem across all of esports.
The process typically sees players or organizational staff bet against their team in a contest and then impact the game in a way that ensures a winning bet. This can vary in some cases, but many of esports’ largest match fixing scandals fall into this category. The iBUYPOWER incident in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is a notable example from another esport.
Dota 2 has seen several cases like this in the past, and even notable players such as Virtus.pro’s Alexey "Solo" Berezin have admitted to betting against themselves and intentionally losing.
While this has been a lingering issue in the whole of esports, things have gotten particularly bad in Dota 2 in recent months. In February, Chinese organization Newbee was accused of match fixing and banned from numerous top domestic leagues in the country. Newbee has an illustrious pedigree in Dota 2, winning The International in 2014 and nearly doing so again in 2017.
Though PlusOne doesn’t have that same kind of history, the fact that incidents such as these keep happening is worrying. So too is the fact that they are happening more frequently at larger events.
DreamLeague Season 14 team forfeits after match-fixing suspicions
Newbee players and organization given permanent ban from Valve
Special treatment for SumaiL's new roster causes controversy
WePlay! suspends team from Pushka League over alleged match fixing
Spanish organization cuts CS:GO team after match fixing scandal
GranDGranT cut by Evil Geniuses after sexual harassment claims
EternaLEnVy shows just how crazy Dota 2's zoo meta has become
These are the big changes coming to the LoL item shop
This Vertigo grenade combo makes taking A so much easier
C9 Jack calls out LCS for bad Player of the Week awards
Evil Geniuses beats MIBR for BLAST Premier NA title
Mixer shutting down soon, shroud and Ninja can stream on Twitch
Invictus Gaming becomes first LoL team to score 10,000 kills
Evil Geniuses vs. beastcoast BTS Pro Series Americas betting analysis
Complexity Gaming stuns Vitality, wins BLAST Premier Spring
Team Liquid coach Jatt has "a love-hate relationship with pressure"
HenryG's ex accuses him of verbal, mental, and sexual abuse
With f0rest gone, Ninjas in Pyjamas is ready to break out again
Somnus takes home MVP award and Mercedes-Benz car