There are two greatest sins in esports: cheating and match-fixing. Both undermine confidence in the integrity of the competition. And while cheating may be detected by different software, to have legitimate proof that a player fixed matches is much, much harder.

Today, the Esports Integrity Commission handed a two-year ban to Erkhan "⁠Gokushima⁠" Bagynanov, a Russian player who is mostly known for his time with FORZE. 

ESIC is known for its conservative approach: it bans players and staff only if they are one-hundred per cent sure of guilt. In its post on X (ex-Twitter), the Commission mentions that it has "detailed interview transcripts and corroborating evidence, including admissions, obtained during the investigation". 

There are many rumours in tier-2 and tier-3 scenes suspecting that many players do not compete fairly, but this is one of the few cases where it all ended with a ban.

Gokushima is banned until March 26, 2026. However, his CS career is unlikely to continue.

Main image: DALL-E

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