According to the official announcement from ESL made last night, 3 coaches HUNDEN (Heroic), dead (MiBR), and MechanoGun (Hard Legion) have been found to have used a bug in CS:GO to gain an advantage for their teams. Investigations by ESL and ESIC in recent times have determined that these coaches exploited a bug that allowed them to select any position on the map and freely monitor that area. According to investigations conducted by ESL referees, this bug has existed for quite a while, and they are continuing to investigate tier 2-3 tournaments to identify violators.
This is clearly a very serious violation as it can greatly affect the outcome of matches specifically and the fairness of the tournament in general; therefore, the penalties imposed by ESL are also very severe. Coach MechanoGun will be banned for 2 years after using the bug in 3 matches at ESL One: Road to Rio; HUNDEN is banned for 12 months after using the bug in 10 rounds of a match at DreamHack Masters Spring, while coach dead of MiBR receives the lightest penalty with a 6-month ban after using the bug in just one round at ESL One: Road to Rio.
Additionally, these teams will also be disqualified from the mentioned tournaments, and they will have their prize money and ESL Pro Tour points revoked. However, ESL and Valve have not yet announced anything regarding the RMR points that these teams earned in these tournaments.
Just minutes after this announcement was made, MiBR immediately announced the suspension of coach dead and will conduct their own internal investigation. Heroic also took similar actions and stated, “Questions will be answered in the near future.”
This is not the first time coaches have been found to engage in unsportsmanlike conduct. Back in July, coach dead was also found to be watching the official BLAST Premier stream while the match involving MiBR players was ongoing. Although the stream was delayed compared to the match, this monitoring allowed them to study positions, gameplay, and even the opponents’ economy to make the best decisions for their team.
This incident once again raises concerns about the fairness of online matches, as this is an ideal environment for individuals with malicious intent to exploit and influence results. This will surely be a valuable lesson for ESL specifically and TOs in general to ensure fairness and integrity in future tournaments.