StarCraft 2’s competitive community has sadly been tainted with scandal, as two gamers and a coach are banned for life, and several more have been arrested, for their involvement in a match fixing and illegal betting scheme. This scheme directly connected these players and staff to organized crime.
PRIME head coach Gerrard (Park Wae-Sik) and progamers YoDa (Choi Byeong-Heon) and BBoongBBoong (Choi Jong-Hyuk), as well as esports journalist Enough (Seong Jun-mo) were all involved in the scheme, as well as two backers, who turned out to be actual gangsters.
The gangsters approached Gerrard at a time when his eSports team, PRIME, was encountering financial difficulties. They used Enough to approach Gerrard with the scheme, and Enough, in turn, sided with one backer, allowing him to bet 31.5 korean won, and earn winnings of 41.5 korean won. While the other backer failed to make money in the scheme, he still ran an illegal gambling ring, using false information from Enough to wager matches.
YoDa played four of the five fixed matches, while BBoongBBoong only player one, through the course of the current StarCraft 2 eSports season from January to July.
The Korean e-Sports Association decided to ban Gerrard and YoDa from the scene for life, a short time before investigations ended, when their role in the scheme became clear.
While the competitive Starcraft scene has given way to the likes of DOTA 2 and League of Legends, it remains one of the most popular and prestigious eSports scenes. The timing of this news is doubly unfortunate for Blizzard, as they are set to release StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void on November 10, 2015. The Dreamhack ROCCAT LotV tournament is coming up soon after, to be held on Jonkoping on November 26 to 29.