Authorities in South Korea have uncovered a match-fixing and gambling operation that involved major figures in the StarCraft II eSports world, leading the Korean e-Sports Association (KeSPA) to issue several lifetime bans.
Prosecutors in Changwon have identified at least twelve people involved, with nine of those already arrested, including various people associated with the StarCraft II team PRIME: its head coach Gerrard (Park Wae-Sik) and pro-gamers YoDa (Choi Byeong-Heon) and BBoongBBoong (Choi Jong-Hyuk).
The operation involved at least five particular GSL and Proleague matches played between January andJune 2015. Prosecutors charge that Gerrard connected the two players with various brokers, who transferred money to YoDa and BBoongBBoong in exchange for losing their matches. Payments ranged from $4,450 to approximately $26,000 USD for fixed matches. The report mentions that an eSports journalist named Enough (Seong Jun-mo) and financial backers with links to Korean organized crime have also been arrested.
Reports say players won between $4,450 and $26,000 for fixed matches.
KeSPA has banned Gerrard, YoDa, and BBoongBBoong for life, and has stated that any other players found to have done the same will also receive lifetime bans.
The eSports association uncovered a similar scandal back in 2010, when it found that 11 StarCraft II pro-gamers had taken similar kickbacks for fixing the results of their matches. Those players received fines totaling between $2,000 and $10,000, mandated community service, and between one and three years probation.
Team Liquid has a detailed breakdown of the prosecutor’s report on its website.
