Former mousesports and ALTERNATE aTTaX player kzy was handed a lifetime ban
ESIC has announced that it has handed out significant sanctions spanning from three years to lifetime to five NOMERCY players who took part in Roman Imperium Cup VII following an investigation into match manipulation at the tournament.
The investigation concerned four best-of-one matches the lineup played in the group stage of the event, which took place in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal in late March, and found breaches based on “a broad evidence bundle.”
That included betting intelligence, which found a high-value combination bet on all four matches, a full-match gameplay review and player-specific analysis, communications and financial material and participant responses.
The report further specifically lists a number of supposed in-game transgressions, such as “failures in trading, utility use, positioning and decision-making” that it appears to have taken into account, albeit with the note that “no isolated gameplay error, transaction or communication was treated as determinative.”
The five players were given three different tiers of sanctions. Oliver “kzy” Heck, whose career dates back to Counter-Strike 1.6 and includes teams such as MOUZ, ALTERNATE aTTaX and EURONICS, was handed a lifetime ban due to his “central leadership and calling role, involvement in veto decisions, repeated gameplay involvement and complete non-cooperation.”
János “James8k” Fodor and Petar “perakokanje” Bešir, whose only matches on record on HLTV are those played at the Portuguese tournament, received five-year sanctions due to the findings and failures to cooperate.
Palkovics “playN” Tamás, who has a short history playing for some of Hungary’s top sides over the past two years, and Sreten “srtn1” Smiljanić, who also only has the aforementioned four matches on his player profile, were given three-year sanctions.
The former’s “detailed responses, financial and communications production, continued engagement, youth and relative lack of experience” were taken into account, while the latter’s “initial interrogatory answers, albeit incomplete and inconsistent” were also deemed mitigating factors.
The bans will expire on the following dates, which take into account the start of their provisional sanction handed to them in April, when the investigation began:
Oliver “kzy” Heck – lifetime
János “James8k” Fodor – until April 23, 2031
Petar “perakokanje” Bešir – until April 23, 2031 Palkovics “playN” Tamás – until April 23, 2029 Sreten “srtn1” Smiljanić – until April 23, 2029
