Leaked Audio Confirming Match-Fixing Leads To Five-Year Ban For CSGO Duo
Two Counter-Strike Global Offensive (CS:GO) players have been slapped with hefty five-year bans after the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) found them to have been active in match-fixing.
Former Rebirth duo of Sebastian "retchy" Tropiano and Kevin "4pack" Przypasniak were hit with a combined ten years of suspension from competitive CS:GO, after ESIC's year-long investigation has found the players to have liaised in 'several instances of match-fixing behaviour' which occurred in an ESEA tournament.
Both retchy and 4pack have been handed bans until April 2026, whilst Carson "nosraC" O'Reilly (another player involved in the investigations) has been banned for 111 days, although his suspension has now been served as the ban was enforced on April 2.
The ban will cover all ESL, ESEA, DreamHack, WePlay, BLAST, LVP, Nodwin, Eden, Relog, UCC, Allied, Kronoverse, Estars, and 247 Leagues.
Despite two lengthy bans being served, ESIC has been insistent that the investigations will continue, and that this is an "interim update" after months of silence.
ESIC continued to say that 34 more cases are currently under investigation. However, the update also cleared one of Rebirth's opponents from any breach of the code of conduct. Both Alex "vek" Voynov and David "J0LZ" Jolin are free to enter ESIC members' events again, even though they were named in a leaked audio clip that was used as damning evidence against the two banned players.
The Commission also said that an update regarding the inquiry into the behaviour of Nicolai "HUNDEN" Petersen is to be revealed on August 25.
HUNDEN was accused by Heroic of giving away "sensitive information", specifically surrounding team plays and strategies, to fellow coaches and competitors. The head coach, who was banned for 12-months amongst another ESIC investigation into a coaching bug exploit, has denied any wrongdoing and has continuing to work with the Commission within the inquiry.