Five individuals have been charged with match-fixing criminal offences as part of the first investigation into esports on the territory of Australia.
The Victoria Police Sporting Integrity Intelligence Unit’s detectives charged the five men with offences that could see them go to prison for 10 years. Last year, a local media revealed that the Victorian police suspected that some match-betting arrangements had been made in a semi-professional esports league, with associates of the team having been told to place bets on them.
The investigation was given a start in March 2019 and the probe was centred on a team that played Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, a first-person shooter game, as part of the ESEA-Mountain Dew League.
Now, a 27-year-old man has faced charges with using corrupt conduct information for betting purposes on five occasions. Another man, age 20, has been charged with two cases of using corrupt conduct data for betting purposes, two counts of engaging in actions that lead or could lead to corruption of a betting outcome, and with cannabis possession. Three other 20-year-old men have all faced charge with using corrupt conduct information for betting purposes on three occasions.
All five men are set to be brought to court in Sale and Melbourne in September.
This Is the First Major Investigation into Alleged Corruption into the Local Esports Sector
Neil Paterson, who is an Assistant Commissioner, revealed that in September 2019, police investigators believed that approximately AU$30,000 had been won through the fixed match betting activity. At the time, Mr Peterson further shared that the men who were allegedly involved in the match-fixing had no previous history with police and would probably get involved in corruption offences.
Back in September last year, he further noted that the five men involved in the match-betting scheme had gone to the same high school and university, and reminded that the volume of young men who got involved in gambling activities in high school and in university, has risen to extremely high levels.
Australians’ interest in esports, especially in betting on esports matches, has grown during the coronavirus lockdown, as all major traditional sports and sports leagues were forced to temporarily stop operating and cancelled their events. On the other hand, some large sporting leagues, including the English Premier League (EPL) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the US, have started to offer video game tournaments featuring professional players.
The investigation of the Counter-Strike Global Offensive match that took place on February 27th, 2019 and was also aired online, fuelled some rumours that the esports sector in Australia is subject to corruption. At the time when the probe was unveiled in September last year, it became clear that the Victoria Police was investigating at least six matches, which was allegedly fixed.
This is the first major investigation into alleged corruption in the Australian esports sector.
- Author
Olivia Cole
