Even though CS2 is just around the corner, important CS:GO news is still coming. Recently, the Esports Integrity Commission, better known as ESIC, suspended CS:GO player Joel “joel” Holmlund for match-fixing. As a result, this young player will no longer be able to play in ESIC-sanctioned tournaments.
CS:GO star suspended for match-fixing
ESIC released the news that Joel has been suspended following a match-fixing investigation. For its part, ESIC claims that evidence was found where it corroborates allegations of different violations of ESIC’s anti-corruption code. The infractions committed by Joel were made during the period when he played for GODSENT. Now, the infractions committed by the player are as follows:
“Mr. Holmlund placed bets on the matches he participated in between March 27 and 28, 2023. Furthermore, Mr. Holmlund placed bets against his team on March 31, 2023. In addition, Mr. Holmlund placed 17 bets on CS:GO teams from March 29 to April 1.”
After thoroughly investigating these allegations, ESIC determined that sufficient grounds existed to ban Joel from participating in any tournaments sanctioned by them. Due to this suspension, Joel cannot participate in tournaments such as ESL, DreamHack, and BLAST. But that’s not all. This player has also been banned from participating in any event Valve has approved. Joel can no longer participate in any official CS:GO or CS2 tournaments.
Joel’s status is “provisionally suspended” now, but this is due to administrative delays regarding his rejection order. So, as of October 6 this year, the final resolution of this ESIC investigation will be made public.
The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) has taken action to suspend Mr. Joel “Joel” Holmlund, a professional esports player, formerly of team Godsent, from all ESIC Member events in light of evidence available corroborating allegations of his multiple breaches of the ESIC… pic.twitter.com/NqJgOlkEOX
— ESIC (@ESIC_Official) September 20, 2023
Joel speaks out about his match-fixing allegations
Joel has published on his X/Twitter account that on August 30, he found out about the accusations against him. However, he was informed that no action would be taken then. On the other hand, Joel comments that he believes that strong external forces pressured ESIC to sanction him, and on September 19, he received notification of other charges.
Joel also comments that the public statement made by ESIC was extremely unfair and that he is willing to collaborate and make a statement with his lawyer.
The 30th of August I recieved a notice of charge from ESIC, I instantly jumped on a call with Ian Smith, head of ESIC. They then decided no further actions would be taken at that point of time. After my qualifcation to BLAST and several tweets from different induviduals I believe…
— joel (@joelholmlund) September 20, 2023
GODSENT comments on Joel’s match-fixing allegations
On the other hand, GODSENT, the team where Joel played, has also commented on the allegations of match-fixing of the player. The esports organization comments that they can finally reveal why they benched the player at the beginning of the year and then dismissed him from their squad. On the other hand, GODSENT has revealed that it has been working hand in hand with ESIC on the whole investigation into the match-fixing issue.
Update on our former Player Joel
Today we can reveal the reasons why we as of earlier this year benched and eventually parted ways with the Swedish player Joel who previously was part of our main roster.
Joel’s suspension from Godsent followed us being informed of serious…
— GODSENT (@GODSENT) September 20, 2023
Not long ago, Joel was considered one of the youngest stars in CS:GO, and the community thought he would become the next prodigy player in the competitive scene. However, his career has been tainted due to these accusations and suspension from ESIC. For now, we must wait until October 6 to formally know the decision of the ESIC on this case.