Tsunami Sirens rejects European matchfixer's overtures in ESL Impact
Sunday was a great day for ESL Impact in North America, with the regular season culminating in an exciting finish to one of the most competitive seasons in the history of the women's scene. During this finale of the regular season, there were two matches of high importance, EG Gold vs. Shimmer and Tsunami Sirens vs. Hyperion, with multiple teams fighting for a final spot in Valencia.
The latter series, with the odds heavily favoring Tsunami Sirens, allegedly caught the eye of a European matchfixer, who in turn tried to persuade Tsunami Sirens to lose a map in order to cash out.
With Tsunami Sirens being such heavy favorites to win, the fixer who uses the alias peekobigboss on Twitter, likely figured that this match would be a soft target due to it being the end of the season and the relative ease Sirens could come back from a one-map disadvantage.
Fortunately, for the integrity of the fledging Impact scene, the act was quickly denounced by Tsunami Siren's coach, Victor "InkHusky", who reported it to ESL staff and released a screenshot of peekobigboss reaching out to the team. When contacted by Dust2.us, InkHusky said that this was the first time someone reached out to one of the team's players and that none of them had any affiliation with peekobigboss.
Dust2.us reached out to the ESL FACEIT Group and, even though no reply was received at the time of publication, Dust2.us understands there is an ongoing investigation.
While this is not an uncommon occurrence, it is one of the rare cases where it gets denounced. In this situation, InkHusky's actions are commendable, setting an example for the rest of the ESL Impact scene and the Counter-Strike world.
If you have any evidence of matchfixing in North America or elsewhere, please feel free reach out to Dust2.us.