(Esports news) Even before the first tour of the 2021/2022 DPC has begun tournament organizer Beyond the Summit announced that Filipino based Omega Esports has been banned from all Valve sponsored events due to match fixing. As a result, they will lose their Division One slot in the Southeast Asia Regional League with six members of their previous roster Dave Hioro Miyata, Prince Daculan, Patt “Piolz” Piolo Dela Cruz, Van Jerico Manalaysay, Ryniel “Zenki” Keit Calvez, and coach Chris “CTY” Ian Francis Mald being implicated in the scandal.
Omega Esports slot will be filled by BOOM Esports as a result, the Indonesian team were relegated to Division Two last season after their seventh place finish in Division One. The lower division spot will be decided by a closed qualifier on November 26th and despite a lifetime ban for all players being the norm in such situations, Valve may make an exception in this case and only ban the specific team members who were involved in the scandal.
The match fixing scandal happened during the BTS Pro Series Southeast Asia Season 9. However, Omega Esports changed their roster from the time the match fixing was made public to the time the ban was announced which means their new members such as Ramzi “ramz” Bayhaki, Lee “Forev” Sang-don and Liew Jun “Eren” Jie will not face the repercussions of the scandal but must join new teams if they wish to participate at the Southeast Asia Dota Pro Circuit. Esports team Execration is also affected by the scandal as they had recruited Van Jerico Manalaysay in their roster and must now find a new player in their team at a short notice to compete at the Southeast Asia Dota Pro Circuit.
In a statement released on social media, Beyond the Summit said “Team Smart Omega (AKA “OMEGA ESPORTS”) have been officially banned from all Valve-sponsored events due to their engagement in match fixing activities. Effective immediately, Smart Omega will no longer be in possession of their Division 1 slot in the DPC Sea League. Boom Esports will retain their Division 1 slot from the previous season as the 7th place finishing team for the upcoming 2021/2022 winter tour. Team Execration will be permitted to fill the open slot on their roster with an eligible player and continue competing in the upcoming DPC Sea League – Winter Tour”.
