The Esports Integrity Commission issued sanctions against 37 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive coaches on Monday for cheating using a spectator bug for a competitive advantage in various matches since September 2015.
Among coaches accused are FaZe Clan's Robert "RobbaN" Dahlström, BOOM Esports coach Alessandro "Apoka" Marcucci, mousesports coach Allan "Rejin" Petersen, ENCE coach Slaava "Twista" Räsänen, former MIBR coach Ricardo "dead" Sinigaglia, FURIA Esports coach Nicholas "guerri" Nogueira, OG coach Casper "ruggah" Due and others.
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RobbaN issued a statement Monday disputing the ban, stating that when he came across the bug in May 2017 Esports Championship Series game versus Astralis, he did not use it to give information to his team and that, on the following day when he encountered the bug a second time, he alerted a tournament administrator. Coaches are allowed to appeal bans with the ESIC.
"I did not ask for this advantage and tried to get rid of this view before the match started. In the heat of the moment, I felt like the most fair decision was to mute my mic and not provide any info to my team, as I was stuck in that view and watched the match from this angle, which sucked as I couldn't even say anything at all," RobbaN said in a statement on Twitter on Monday. "I could not help my team. Looking back on the situation, I could have made a different decision and either quit the game or tech pause, which would be the most obvious pick here. In hindsight I'm even asking myself why I did not do that as I would not be in this situation. But at the time, I truly felt the decision I made was fair and respectful."
"We stand behind Robert," FaZe Clan tweeted on Monday. "Upholding the integrity of competition means everything to us & we're glad an issue he brought up 3 years ago is finally being addressed, but his ban is entirely unwarranted given the facts. We're disappointed in the process that led to this conclusion."
OG also offered their support to ruggah, according to a report from HLTV.
"We respect the ESIC decision, and effective immediately Casper will start to fulfill his ban," the org said in a statement. "Maintaining the highest level of competitive integrity is something we consider vital in OG Esports. Following the ESIC's decision, players and staff got together as a team. We decided that Casper deserves a second chance and we want to continue working with him."
Other teams employing coaches named by the ESIC contacted by ESPN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
ESIC said it has reviewed more than 20% of 99,650 of game files it received from ESEA and HLTV and will issue more punishments if similar acts of cheating are found as it continues its review.
The 37 coaches will be banned from working in ESIC-affiliated events, including those hosted by ESL and DreamHack, from anywhere between five months to 36 months based on the number of offenses. Certain suspensions were lessened if coaches confessed to the instances of cheating or assisted in the investigation.
Here's how long each coach will be suspended and which team ESIC said the coach cheated on:
Aleksandr "MechanoGun" Bogatyrev, Hard Legion: 36 months
Allan "Rejin" Petersen, Tricked: 19.8 months
Slaava "Twista" Räsänen, iGame.com: 15.75 months
Germán "Hellpa" Morath, 9z: 10 months
Christian "Chrille" Lindberg, Epsilon and Red Reserve: 10 months
Milan "pepik" Gellebra, eSuba: 10 months
Arno "ArnoZ1K4" Junior, Evidence: 10 months
Anton "ToH1o" Georgiev, ex-Outlaws and Windigo Gaming: 10 months
glouDH, Freestyle: 10 months
Rodrigo "dinamo" Haro, Furious Gaming: 10 months
Bruno "bruno" Ono, Imperial and paiN Gaming: 10 months
Toftbo "casle" Ardenskjold, maquinas: 10 months
Andrey "Andi" Prokhorov, Natus Vincere: 10 months
Sergey "starix" Ischuk, Natus Vincere: 10 months
Arthur "prd" Resende, Neverest: 10 months
Faruk "pita" Pita, Ninjas in Pyjamas: 10 months
Jasmeet "RoSeY" Gill, Nordavind: 10 months
Asset "Solaar" Sembiev, Syman and k23: 10 months
Ivan "F_1N" Kochugov, Gambit Youngsters: 8.75 months
Nicolai "HUNDEN" Petersen, Heroic: 8 months
Egor "fuRy^" Morin, DreamEaters: 7.5 months
Erik "AKIMOV" Akimov, Hard Legion: 7.5 months
Sergey "lmbt" Bezhanov, HellRaisers and forZe: 7.5 months
Morgan "B1GGY" Madour, Heretics: 7.5 months
Alexey "NooK" Kozlovskiy, Quantum Bellator Fire: 7.5 months
Ricardo "dead" Sinigaglia, SK Gaming and MIBR: 6.5 months
Alexander "ave" Holdt, North: 6 months
Mariusz "Loord" Cybulski, Team Kinguin and Aristocracy: 6 months
Robert "RobbaN" Dahlström, FaZe Clan: 5.5 months
Alessandro "Apoka" Marcucci, Luminosity, INTZ and BOOM: 5.4 months
Pedro "peu" Lopes, W7M: 5 months
Nicholas "guerri" Nogueira, FURIA: 4 months
Henrik "FeTiSh" Christensen, Heroic: 3.75 months
Mikołaj "miNIr0x" Michałków, AGO Esports: 3.75 months
Nikolay "pNshr" Paunin, SKADE: 3.75 months
Casper "ruggah" Due, Dignitas: 3.75 months
The bulk of the game review was led by former ESL head referee Michal Slowinski and ESEA software development manager Steve Dudenhoeffer. Slowinski first noticed the bug earlier this year, which led to suspensions of dead, HUNDEN and MechanoGun in early September.