Three Legends of Runeterra players have received 12-month bans from the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) after cheating in a tournament.
‘Le Hiep’, ‘DiaComSuon’, and ‘Cuticini’ will no longer be able to compete in ESL, DreamHack, WePlay, BLAST, LVP, and other professional tournaments until June 16 2022 after they were found to have “colluded to cheat” by engaging in boosting behaviour.
ESIC investigated the matter after ESL Asia filed a report relating to “abnormal progression” in the ESL Mobile Open Legends of Runeterra (Ladder 2) tournament, where five accounts were raised for suspicious activity. The investigation found three of these accounts were operated by one of the banned players, while the other two held an account each. Any attempt to cheat via boosting behaviour is considered a Level 4 violation of Article 2.4.4 in the ESIC Code of Conduct, resulting in the 12-month ban.
In Legends of Runeterra, boosting refers to top level players accessing or creating lower-skilled player accounts in order to push themselves further up the ranking ladder.
“The presence of any form of match-manipulation or corrupt behaviour is of serious concern to the safety of youth who form a considerable proportion of participants in the industry globally,” ESIC says.
ESIC Hands Down 12 Month Bans to Three Individuals in Legends of Runeterra Cheating Incident ESIC has issued 12 month sanctions against three individuals who have colluded to cheat in the ESL Mobile Open Legends of Runeterra (Ladder 2) tournament. Read: https://t.co/BnckErc5gX pic.twitter.com/Zuk5Q9DYKQ
— ESIC (@ESIC_Official) July 6, 2021
“Accordingly, it is imperative that esports stakeholders take an aggressive stance against any form of corruption in competitive integrity.”
These bans come ahead of the first Legends of Runeterra World Championship in September, where 256 players will compete for the lion’s share of a $200,000 prize pool.