Counter-Strike 2 News

37 CS:GO coaches have been banned for using a spectator bug

Exactly 37 esports coaches are facing sanctions for allegedly using a spectator bug in CS:GO to gain a bird's-eye view of a map during competitive play, giving them and their team an unfair advantage. The esports watchdog association that issued the sanctions posted findings from an on-going investigation spelling out who has been implicated, and how long they'll be banned.

In an additional document provided with the report, The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) explains how it determined the length. The ESIC assigned each offending party demerit points based on what the watchdog found during its investigation. After the ESIC dished out those points, sanction tiers were then developed to "ensure a proportionate and reasonable level of penalty could be applied consistently across various offenders". The highest tier of the ban period is 36 months, whereas the lowest tier is five.

Other factors additionally influenced the bans given out. For example, if someone confessed to using the spectator bug before the investigation, their ban would have been reduced by 40%. If someone assisted in the investigation, they would have seen their ban knocked down by 20%.

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FaZe backs CS:GO coach RobbaN after spectator bug ban

The Esports Integrity Commission confirmed yesterday that 37 coaches would receive bans for abusing the infamous spectator bug in CS:GO tournaments. However, some coaches aren't too happy with the bans that they've been served.

One such coach is FaZe coach Robert 'RobbaN' Dahlström, who was charged with a five and a half month ban but maintains his innocence. He wrote about his experiences with the bug in a Twitlonger, saying that in the first instance he encountered it, he was very confused but made what he believed to be the "honorable decision" and muted his microphone for the rest of the game. FaZe lost that game 16-1.

When he encountered the bug a second time, RobbaN realised there might be something seriously wrong and it could be happening more often to other teams. This time, he notified a tournament admin, and together they rectified the view. In the ESIC investigation, RobbaN was only charged for abusing the bug in one match, meaning the commission found his decision to bring in the tournament admin sufficient proof of his innocence this time around.

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ESIC takes aim at stream snipers in official CS:GO matches

The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) has dominated the headlines this week after 37 CS:GO coaches were banned for abusing a spectator bug. With bans spanning from three months to three years and coaches taking varying stances on the ruling, the referees of the esports world are moving on to stream snipers.

Now, this won't impact regular players who are trying to get matched with and take out the biggest streamers - this investigation is only related to official CS:GO tournaments; specifically competitors tuning into official tournament streams to gain an advantage. This isn't like sneaking a peek at your mate's homework in school - it's like if Andy Murray gained the power to time travel and used it to figure out precisely where Roger Federer would serve the ball before each shot.

"It's something that's really emerged in this COVID period," explains Ian Smith, integrity commissioner at ESIC on the HLTV Confirmed show. "We got some reports, perfectly substantiated reports of stream sniping."

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ForZe challenges lmbt's CS:GO coaching ban

It has already been a day of reckoning for the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive community. The Esports Integrity Commission revealed earlier today it was issuing bans to 37 coaches for abusing the now infamous coach spectator bug, but not everyone is happy about it - in fact, forZe eSports is already challenging the findings.

Following the release of the report, in which assistant coach Sergey 'Imbt' Bezhanov was named, the Russian esports organisation has leapt to his defence. Despite being banned for seven and a half months for apparently abusing the bug in three separate cases (two against MiBR and one against Nordavind), forZe isn't happy with the investigation.

According to the organisation, the assistant coach was in the Maincast analytics studio for the the MiBR match and couldn't abuse the bug by providing information to players. In the Nordavind match, lmbt apparently reported this to ESIC himself and did not pass on any information to his players.

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37 CS:GO coaches have been banned for abusing the Spectator bug

Over the past month, multiple CS:GO coaches have been suspended for exploiting a Spectator bug that gave them an unfair advantage, allowing them a birds-eye view of portions of the map they wouldn't usually be able to see. The ESIC (Esports Integrity Commission) announced that matches from official ESL and DreamHack tournaments were analysed. Initially this resulted in bans for three coaches: MIBR's Ricardo "dead" Sinigaglia, Heroic's Nicolai "HUNDEN" Petersen, and Hard Legion's Aleksandr "MechanoGun" Bogatiryev. The ESIC has now announced that it's issued sanctions against 37 coaches for using the glitch. So far, the commission has checked roughly 20 percent of the total demos available for review. However, they claim that the demos they've reviewed so far "likely comprise the most substantial cases of abuse". Each offender has been assigned 'demerit points' that correspond to a specific sanction tier, which then outlines the duration of the ban. This standardises the sanctions to ensure that each person receives a fair penalty. Here are the sanctioning tiers and ban periods: Tier 1 (Aggravated) (eight points): 36 months Tier 1 Sanction (six to seven points): 18 months Tier 2 Sanction (three to five points): 10 months Tier 3 Sanction (fewer than three points): 5 months Those who came forward and admitted to exploiting the bug in advance may see their ban period reduced, and individuals can appeal if they want to contest their suspensions. The ESIC has also outlined that they couldn't be sure "whether the teams related to the offending parties were complicit in the exploitation of the Spectator Bug at the time that the offences took place". For now, here's the full list of the 37 coaches that have been banned, the team they're from, and how long each suspension will last: Twista—iGame.com: 15.75 months casle—maquinas: 10 months Dinamito—Furious Gaming: 10 months ArnoZ1K4—Evidence: 10 months Rejin—Tricked: 19.8 months glouDH—Freestyle: 10 months prd—Neverest: 10 months nook—QB Fire: 7.5 months rikz—DETONA: 10 months Apoka—Luminosity/INTZ/BOOM: 5.4 months MechanoGun—Hard Legion: 36 months Hellpopovich—9z: 10 months fuRy^—DreamEaters: 7.5 months Solaar—Syman/k23: 10 months HUNDEN—Heroic: 8 months dead—SK Gaming/MIBR: 6.5 months guerri—FURIA: 4 months pita—Ninjas in Pyjamas: 10 months AKIMOV—Hard Legion: 7.5 months F_1N—Gambit Youngsters: 8.75 months ellllll—Imperial/paiN: 10 months peu—W7M: 5 months RobbaN—FaZe Clan: 5.5 months Loord—Team Kinguin/Aristocracy: 6 months ToH1o—ex-Outlaws/Windigo Gaming: 10 months Andi—NAVI: 10 months pepik—eSuba: 10 months B1GGY—Heretics: 7.5 months chrille—Epsilon/Red Reserve: 10 months starix—NAVI: 10 months ave—North: 6 months rosey—Nordavind: 10 months LMBT_R—Hellraisers/forZe: 7.5 months FeTiSh—Heroic: 3.75 months miNIr0x—AGO: 3.75 months pNshr—SKADE: 3.75 months ruggah—Dignitas: 3.75 months The investigation also revealed that the Spectator Bug had previously been reported to admins in non-ESIC member tournaments as early as 2017, but the ESIC has stated that they were "not aware of how these reports were treated by non-members as we do not have operational visibility of any actions that were taken. Accordingly, ESIC will not make any comment relating to prior reports of the Spectator Bug to tournament admins by individuals." Thanks, Dexerto.