In October, the Esports Integrity Commission, an agency created in 2016 to investigate and prosecute "all forms of misconduct in esports, including but not limited to match manipulation and doping," seven Counter-Strike: Global Offensive's seven professional players were suspended for gambling, which is a big no-no in professional sports (just ask Pete Rose). (Ask Pete Rose.) He also warned that these sanctions were "part of a broader investigation" and that "there is a large amount of investigation being coordinated by the ESIC in relation to match manipulation behavior."

Today, the ESIC announced that an ongoing investigation into the ESEA event in Australia has resulted in 35 new suspensions for CS:GO competitors for periods ranging from one to five years, and that two of the players who were suspended in October have had their suspensions extended

"In the past, we have had a number of players suspended from the competition.

"Over the past several years, ESIC has been investigating suspected cases of gaming violations and match manipulation on a global scale." While this issue is not limited to ESEA events, the scope of this release is to explore the findings of the investigation into such conduct at CS:GO in Australia."

To ensure "consistent and proportionate" punishment for violators, the ESIC has come up with a "sanction matrix":

and these are the suspended players and the length of their suspensions:

This list includes two players who were suspended in October for one year This list also includes amended sanctions for: Akram "adk" Sumida (previously playing as "akram"), whose suspension was extended to two years, and Daryl "mayker" May, who was suspended for four years. The suspension applies to all ESIC members, including ESL, DreamHack, WePlay, BLAST, LVP, Nodwin, Eden, Relog, UCC, Allied, Kronoverse, Estars, and 247Leagues, and ESIC will not be able to use the suspension against non-member tournaments to respect this ruling.

The ESIC Committee clarified that the suspension was due to betting on matches in ESIC member tournaments and did not address the allegations of cheating.

It also stated that it detected "collusive behavior by close associates" of the suspended players, specifically that there were several instances of players making the same bets that they themselves had made. It stated that these individuals were not CS:GO players and were therefore outside the ESIC's jurisdiction and that it instead "referred their behavior to law enforcement for investigation as a possible violation of criminal law."

This is a major ban, and the threat of law enforcement involvement is no doubt unsettling for those involved, especially since the amounts involved were likely not that large. After all, they are not top-notch professionals competing in the majors. However, the announcement also includes a reminder about the ESIC's rules for betting on matches and, more pointedly, why it pursues violators so harshly:

A unified understanding of the implications of improper betting behavior and compliance with anti-corruption mechanisms (such as anti-corruption codes) Without it, esports risks fostering fraudulent opportunities that are attractive to bad actors. It is therefore important that professional players understand that violations of the ESIC's Anti-Corruption Code are a serious concern.

It is critically important that professional players refrain from betting on (at least) revenue-generating games in order to maintain the integrity of international esports and reduce the potential for bad actors to take advantage of our sport.

While this study is limited to Australian CS:GO pro events, ESIC states that it is also conducting studies of other CS:GO leagues in North America and Europe, as well as "a significant number of other leagues across multiple game titles."