ESIC filed formal charges against peacemaker, zakk and hally

ESIC issued an official statement, in the context of which it put forward official accusations against the peacemaker, zakk and hally. These specialists have received corresponding bans and will almost certainly miss the upcoming PGL Major Antwerp 2022.

To be very clear, it is important to note that ESIC does not consider the outcome of an unfair advantage as a necessary threat factor posed by bug variants. Rather, the very potential of exploitation and its exploitation by the affected participants created the opportunity for an unfair advantage that had to be corrected immediately.

The Commissioner believes that all bug-related cases, regardless of apparent harm (or harmlessness), should be dealt with promptly and immediately in a professional setting. The Commissioner is of the firm opinion that esports should have no room for complacency in such matters and, accordingly, seeks to penalize those who failed to adequately handle the opportunity to gain a competitive advantage at the time of any of the bug variants.

The above reasoning is consistent with all ESIC statements regarding bug variants.

Each offending party has the right to appeal the suspension from participation in ESIC events. It should be noted that PGL, the organizers of PGL Major Antwerp 2022 and Valve, the developer of CS:GO, are not members of ESIC. Therefore, the ESIC does not have jurisdiction to make decisions regarding the Major.

During the investigation, ESIC revealed that peacemaker, zakk and hally used one or another version of the bug, thereby gaining an unfair advantage over the opponent.

According to ESIC, it was found that hally and zakk encountered the original version of the bug within one round in the case of the Russian specialist (then head of Espada) and one and a half rounds in two matches in the case of the Brazilian (representing 9z and Luminosity).

ESIC said it will use the same sanction matrix that it used back in September 2020 when dealing with cases related to the first type of bug. According to this and similar cases from the previous wave of bans, hally and zakk will be banned for up to 5 months, excluding potential concessions.

In turn, the peacemaker was found to have used a free roam variant in the 2018 matchup between Heroic and Imperial. This variant of the bug has been recognized as the most serious by ESIC and warrants a penalty equal to fraud, which is up to 24 months.

Explaining its position, the governing body stated that the result of receiving an unfair advantage does not play a role in the decision, meaning that it does not matter whether the team in question actually used the information obtained during the coaching period. The potential for exploitation and the fact that the people involved "didn't act appropriately" when they encountered the bug was enough to justify sanctions.

Although there has not been an official ban from ESIC, it is expected that PGL and Valve will remove specialists from participation in the upcoming PGL Major Antwerp 2022. At the same time, Team Spirit and 9z managed to issue an official statement in which they confirmed the existence of prohibitive sanctions against their coaches.