During the Prodota Cup third place decided, held over a month ago, Peruvian teams Elite Wolves and Infamous were accused of match fixing, after some suspicious odd swings, bets and, of course, some very questionable plays.
Said plays included a Medusa mid with no points in Shield and a Slark who didn’t Pounce away from being first-blooded. Since a video speaks louder than words, a video by NoobFromUA can be found here:
A link to the main discussion on reddit can be found on the video’s description as well.
Of course, there’d been much debate whether there was enough evidence to conclude match fixing. And in fact, after 10 days of supposed investigation from both the tournament organizers and Valve, they were cleared of suspicion.
And when all seemed well for them, it appears that a few days ago, they were unable to actually sign up for the upcoming Major event. Soon, they received this:
4 Elite wolves players and the ex-captain of Infamous seem to be included. For more details, I recommend reading the article @ gosugamers, since they’re the ones who brought this to light.
Now, I’d like to comment on the two main issues this whole story brings up.
First, the ban itself. From the way it’s written, I’m guessing it’s a lifetime ban. This may sound harsh to some, but I believe this is the right way to go. It’s not as if the players are going to jail, and that’s precisely why making an example out of cheaters should be this “severe”; anything less would be the same as giving them a chance to try again. The esports field is way to young to be cheater-friendly, and I’d like it to stay like this.
Of course, all this begs the question whether they really cheated or not. Which brings us to the second issue: The way Valve seem to like dealing with problems (one-liners that dismiss any sort of discussion) has caused people to express their concern.
I understand they don’t have to give any explanations, and maybe they shouldn’t; not everyone is fit to make a fair and well-thought judgement on matters like this. People tend to not take their own opinion seriously enough and how much it can affect a situation.
On the other hand though, it seems a bit unfair to not even give the party in question a chance to defend themselves. Even in court, regarding actual crimes, people get the chance to prove their point to the law and the public. Going back to James Harding’s case, he seemed pretty confused as to what exactly was the problem, and it seems that these 2 teams didn’t know they were being investigated a second time either.
And while I’m with Valve this time (and only this), it perhaps would’ve been better for them to give the teams a shot in presenting any sort of evidence they might have had. If they didn’t have any, it would only benefit Valve’s reputation. In case they did have some, they have every right to do so.