At the end of the week, a player in the ESEA Main regional league under the nickname brannd posted a recording of a dialog between two cybersports players discussing surrendering a match for a small sum of money. Namely, Monstar, who plays for TPGblue, offered Abe «alaNi» Alani of xpLicit $100 in skins or cash for the latter's team to surrender the final match. This was necessary for TPGblue to avoid relegation to a lower league.
In the conversation, the TPGblue player explained that the current players in the team are not doing well and he plans to review the squad next season. However, to do that, he needs to keep his place in the league now. Dust2.us, the portal that published information about this conversation, confirmed the authenticity of the recording by talking to a player who knows the voices of both participants. The recording was made by alaNi himself, who was suspicious of the request of a player from the opposing team for confidential communication.
The tournament organizers did not comment on the situation despite the fact that evidence of the violation was handed over to them. ESIC, which monitors fair play in cybersports, also made no comment on the matter. The match in question in the discussion has already taken place and ended with TPGblue winning. In another similar case in 2021, the ESIC penalized two cyber athletes for discussing a potential infringement despite the fact that it never actually occurred, but in this case the commission may have decided to rule differently.