The Incident

In a significant turn of events, seven members of the Mongolian team, ATOX Esports, received serious punishments after the results of an Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) investigation into match-fixing. The organization has been at the root of a major integrity violation scandal in recent Counter-Strike history. The punishments handed out vary from temporary suspensions to lifetime bans.

The Investigation

ESIC initiated an investigation after they detected suspicious betting patterns during ATOX’s match against Team Falcons in the ESL Pro League Season 20 in September 2024. ESIC’s Suspicious Betting Alert Network (SBAN) noted unusual betting activity that significantly deviated from the norm.

The Verdict

The ESIC made the final announcement of penalties on May 15, 2025, concluding the investigation into the irregular betting activities during ESL Pro League Season 20.

Those Involved

ATOX had seven punished members, including players, a coach, and an analyst, who were found guilty of participating in match-fixing. Among them, three individuals received lifetime bans:

• Gan-Erdene “dobu” Batbold (player)
• Bat-Enkh “kabal” Batbayar (player)
• Ana-Erdene “nuka” Basantogtokh (analyst)

The investigation proved that the match-fixing was not isolated to individuals but was a team-based wrongdoing.

Details of Investigation

The conspiratorial activities were tied to organized crime, particularly criminal groups from China. The ESIC identified over 70 suspicious betting instances during the investigation. The evidence, including chat logs, call recordings, and IP correlations, were collected by the ESIC during the investigation

Events Timeline

Suspicions about possible match-fixing arose after ATOX lost 0-2 against Falcons in the ESL Pro League 20 group’s lower bracket on September 12, 2024, which resulted in ATOX being eliminated in the Last Chance stage. Further, despite lacking any official proclamation, ATOX had already been disqualified and banned from PGL events in March 2025 during the ongoing ESIC investigation.

Implications

This scenario underlines the serious consequences of match-fixing and betting fraud in professional competition. The ATOX case is a clear warning to the wider esports community. As such, this scandal marks a major breach in professional Counter-Strike’s integrity. Adding to this the links to organized crime and the methodical match-fixing operation make it particularly noteworthy. ESIC’s stern actions against corruption in esports are evident in this case.