Bookmakers Report Suspicious Bets on Cyber Legacy vs. Vikin.gg Match at ESL One Germany
In a surprising turn of events, bookmakers Parimatch and 1xBet have raised concerns about unusual betting activity surrounding the match between Cyber Legacy and Vikin.gg at ESL One Germany on Oct. 18. The odds for the match dropped significantly before the game, leading to suspicions of match-fixing.
Parimatch CEO Dmitry Sergeev questioned the legitimacy of the match, noting that the odds decreased from 1.45 to 1.25 before the match began. Moreover, certain betting sites continued to offer bets on the second map, even though Vikin.gg were considered the favorites. Parimatch promptly removed the match from its betting options, and other betting sites followed suit.
Similarly, 1xBet raised similar concerns and highlighted previous instances of suspicious activity involving Cyber Legacy matches. They observed that many of the unusual bets were placed by newly registered accounts.
Although there is no concrete evidence to prove match-throwing by Cyber Legacy against Vikin.gg, it is worth noting that Cyber Legacy did lose 2-0. In response to the allegations, Cyber Legacy’s CEO Vladislav Grechkin asserted his team’s innocence.
Grechkin emphasized that Cyber Legacy always upholds sports ethics and respects the audience. He stated that participating in “fake” matches is unacceptable for them. Considering their current state and recent performance, it was foreseeable that they would lose against Vikin.gg, who were initially favored to win.
Grechkin also dismissed any suspicions of wrongdoing by the team, attributing the unusual betting activity to the team’s growing popularity or potential ulterior motives of bookmakers who spoke out against them.
Another incident of alleged match-fixing came to light just a day later when the Yellow Submarine team reported that some of its players had received offers to throw their series against Na’Vi.
According to an image shared by team manager Dmitry “Korb3n” Belov, the offlaner Magomed “Collapse” Halilov was approached with an offer of 1 million Russian rubles ($13,000 USD) to throw the match. The offer included involving two other teammates in the deal and keeping it secret from Korb3n.
Upon sharing the image, Korb3n expressed initial skepticism regarding the arguments between Cyber Legacy and the bookmakers due to the lack of evidence. However, after his players were approached, he changed his stance.
After ESL One Germany concludes on Nov. 1, it is expected that a thorough investigation will be launched, with a particular focus on CIS teams like Cyber Legacy.
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