In 1989, Major League Baseball great Pete Rose was suspended for life from the sport for gambling while manager of the Cincinnati Reds. By this standard, seven recently arrested Counter Strike: Seven Global Offensive pros recently arrested for betting on games were lucky.

"As a result of a joint investigation by ESIC and ESEA, ESIC found that seven active CS:GO pros playing in MDL [Mountain Dew League] Australia had placed bets on MDL matches while participating in MDL. "Esports Integrity Commission stated in a statement that "some of these individuals were involved in betting activities related to the matches they were playing."

"In addition, the ESIC found that several associates of the offending party also participated in betting activities related to the matches played by the offending party. The ESIC also confirmed that several parties associated with the offending party also participated in betting activities related to matches played by the offending party.

As a result of this ruling, the following players will be placed on leave for the year:

The MDL is not the largest professional league in the gaming industry, but it is a legitimate professional league: the MDL was established by a partnership between ESL and Mountain Dew, and according to its website "new teams are ESL It serves as a "gateway to success for new teams to compete in the professional league. This would amount to multiple violations of ESIC's anti-corruption code section 2.2:

Rooster, currently third in MDL Australia (five of the seven suspended games were Rooster players), issued a statement admitting that betting had taken place, but that the players had bet to win themselves They stated that they thought it was just that, and that there was no problem.

"They worked hard and gave 100% effort in every match, bets or no bets.

"At the time, the players were not educated about the proper rulings regarding betting during the season, and all they knew was that throwing was morally wrong and would not be tolerated in any sport, as it was, of course, punishable by law.

The team added that the players were "deeply sorry" for their actions and expressed hope that others would learn from their mistakes.

While the ESIC cannot directly ban players, its rulings are binding on all member organizations, including ESL, Dreamhack, Blast Pro Series, LVP/Fandroid, and many others. It also formally requested that non-member organizers observe the ban in their own tournaments.

The announcement of the suspensions came months after three CS:GO team coaches were given lengthy suspensions for cheating at tournaments using spectator bugs. This investigation was eventually expanded and is still ongoing, but this one is far from over: the ESIC says it is investigating match-fixing allegations in the North American and Australian MDLs, and that these investigations are more complex and "subject to necessary cooperation with law enforcement agencies in various jurisdictions. He explained that these investigations are taking much longer to complete because they are more complex and "subject to the necessary cooperation with law enforcement in various jurisdictions.

Thanks, Kotaku.