Scandal Hits Ex-IBP Team: Deliberate Loss in CEVO Professional Season 5 Match
A recent scandal has emerged involving the ex-IBP team intentionally losing a CEVO Professional season 5 match. On August 21, 2014, IBUYPOWER faced off against Netcodeguides.com. Despite being the favorites, IBUYPOWER suffered a devastating 4-16 defeat.
The IBP team, known for their impressive plays and strategic brilliance, displayed illogical knife kills and were even seen laughing as they lost rounds. They justified their loss by claiming a lack of practice on the map. This led to widespread rumors of IBUYPOWER intentionally throwing the match.
The next day, The Daily Dot released screenshots of a conversation involving Shahzeb “ShahZam” Khan, the current Cloud 9 player. ShahZam revealed that the IBP game was rigged to ensure their defeat. The Daily Dot conducted an investigation and exposed several individuals involved in this scandal.
On January 5, screenshots of a conversation were shared by Derek “dboorn” Boorn’s ex-girlfriend. In the conversation, Boorn admitted that the match was fixed and he was instructed to bet on the team using alternate accounts. He also implicated Sam “Dazed” Marine, the iBUYPOWER captain at the time.
Betting patterns supported Boorn’s claims, but the identities of the bettors remained unknown until these screenshots were revealed. In the conversation, Boorn mentioned a player called “cud” who allegedly placed the bets on their behalf.
Boorn expected to receive approximately $7,000 worth of in-game skins in his Steam account after the rigged match concluded.
ShahZam has now confessed to betting against IBUYPOWER in August. He initially intended to bet on IBUYPOWER, but Casey Foster, the founder of Netcodeguides.com, convinced him to bet on his team instead.
This scandal has sparked outrage within the eSports community and has significantly damaged the reputations of certain individuals in the pro-gaming scene.
Matthew “Sadokist” Trivett’s Take
Matthew Trivett shares his opinion on the scandal:
“I personally feel there wasn’t enough concrete evidence to support these claims. Screenshots can easily be manipulated, so we must question their authenticity. I believe professional players should not be allowed to bet on their own matches or any other games. eSports needs to establish a higher degree of professionalism and respect. Rigging matches for in-game skins and profit is foolish. The IBP incident was indeed suspicious, and it raises important questions that require further discussion.”
What do you think of this scandal? Should those involved be banned from betting or any involvement with betting services?
Tweet your opinion to @ESNCS.