CSGO players get five-year bans for match-fixing in ESEA Premier

The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) has given five-year bans to Sebastian “retchy” and Kevin “4pack” Przypasniak due to match-fixing.

The two former Rebirth players were banned as part of the ESIC’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive match-fixing investigation, which included cooperation with the FBI. Retchy and 4pack were suspended from ESEA earlier this year when a recording came to light in April. The two could be heard discussing plans to fix a match against Russian Canadians in ESEA Premier Season 35 North America.

One of the teammates that was on the phone call, Carson “nosraC” O’Reilly, was banned as well. His ban will last 111 days. The ESIC stated that they couldn’t find any evidence that he breached the organization’s anti-corruption code. But he was still suspended because nosraC didn’t tell the ESIC about retchy and 4pack’s plan.

Rebirth’s other two players, Alex “vex” Voynov and David “J0LZ” Jolin, were on the recording as well. But they didn’t receive suspensions and can continue participating in ESIC member events. This includes ESL, DreamHack, BLAST, WePlay, and more. Meanwhile, retchy and 4pack are banned from all events created by these tournament organizers. ESIC also stated that non-partner tournament organizers should not allow the two match-fixing CSGO players.

“ESIC appreciates that the broader investigation has been longstanding and ongoing. This is for good reason, as ESIC is seeking to collaborate with a wide range of stakeholders in order to arrive at an outcome that best serves the interests of integrity in esports,” the ESIC said.

ESIC continues to update on North American match-fixing investigation

The ESIC has been investigating match-fixing in North America since 2020. This includes an ongoing investigation into 34 individuals who allegedly breached the anti-corruption code while participating in ESEA Premier North America.

“Most pertinent to the complications faced and the length of this investigation is ESIC’s observation of compelling evidence that suggests that organized crime groups and foreign betting syndicates were involved in fraudulent activities during the course of season 35 of the ESEA Premier: North America,” ESIC stated.

There will be further updates coming from ESIC this week regarding their investigations into the North American pro CSGO scene. There will be an update on August 25 regarding Heroic’s former head coach Nicolai “HUNDEN” Petersen. HUNDEN has been accused of sharing information from Heroic’s strategy book with another party ahead of IEM Cologne back in July.