ESIC banned four Russian players for cheating and match-fixing

The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) has announced sanctions against four players from Russia who were found guilty of using cheats and participating in match-fixing. The penalties were issued to Egor “zLy” Polyakov, Dmitry “propleh” Senigov, Alexander “Ruler” Maksimov, and Petr “timeagento” Markheev.

The harshest decision was made in relation to zLy. He received a lifetime ban. ESIC explained the punishment by pointing to the seriousness of the violations, the player’s official admission of guilt, and his own request for a permanent ban. The 26-year-old last appeared on the professional scene as part of SEAW, when the team competed in the open Asian qualifier for ESL Challenger Melbourne 2024.

The other players involved in the case - propleh, Ruler, and timeagento - were banned from турниры for five years. The most well-known among them remains propleh, who at different times represented Monolith, 1win, and NASR. He also played for Victory Zigzag, a team that managed to qualify for BLAST Premier Fall Showdown 2023. However, the roster never got to play at the event: joel was suspended by ESIC, while coach Hardwell received a FACEIT ban for using cheats.

ESIC handed MAUschine a lifetime ban after attacking an opponent at CAGGTUS Leipzig

This latest case became another high-profile decision by the commission in recent times. Earlier, ESIC had already handed a lifetime ban to German streamer Maurizio “MAUschine” Weber after an on-stage incident. As a result, the regulator continues to respond harshly to all kinds of violations - both those related to unfair play and those connected to behavior outside the server.