Six Arrested By Australian Police Over CS: GO Match-Fixing

Match-fixing in CS: GO is not a new phenomenon, as the potential of throwing a match for financial gain is always present.

In Australia, six individuals were arrested after local authorities received information from a betting agency about suspicious betting activity centered around a CS:GO tournament.

The individuals involved arranged the outcome of their own matches during a tournament and placed bets on the outcome of these matches. Once the betting agency noticed the pattern and suspicious behavior of said bets, the authorities were notified.

It is estimated that at least five matches were affected by their actions and that over 20 bets were placed by the members involved in the match-fixing.

As a result of this information, a combined investigation involving the Sporting Integrity Intelligence Unit and the Organized Crime Intelligence Unit led to the arrest of all parties involved.

Six raids were made by the Australian authorities across Australia, which consisted of three in Mill Park and South Morang, two in Mount Elizabeth, and one in Perth.

All individuals arrested are between 19 and 22 years old and are facing up to 10 years in prison if fully convicted.

The involved parties are facing charges in relation to “engaging in conduct that corrupts or would corrupt a betting outcome of event or event contingency or use of corrupt conduct information for betting purposes.”

The six individuals have been released, but the investigation is ongoing.

This is Australia’s first police investigation into sports match-fixing, which has already been established as a problem throughout the world. The actions taken by the involved law enforcement agencies show just how serious these crimes are being considered.

Assistant Commissioner Neil Paterson stated:

Esports is really an emerging sporting industry and with that will come the demand for betting availability on the outcomes of tournaments and matches. It’s important that police and other agencies with law enforcement, gaming and betting industries continue to work together to target any suspicious activity.

The sports competitive industry already has an established betting scene that will continue to grow as the sports world continues to expand. Law enforcement agencies around the world will need to adapt to monitor and police these industries to avoid match-fixing or throwing from becoming rampant.

This event will most likely not be the last attempt of match-fixing but set a precedent for future investigations to take notes from.