Linger, a Chinese professional Dota team was disqualified from Omega League for a match-fixing scandal.
Linger is a fairly upcoming esports team comprised of promising young stars. However, the team was accused of participating in match-fixing, a rising crime that plagues the esports industry. Upon further investigation, the doubts were confirmed and Linger was found guilty.
WePlay!, the organiser of the Omega League, announced that Linger would be immediately terminated from the Asia Divine Division, the qualifying stage.
The events unfolded after a number of betting companies reported a lot of activity for the second map of this series, where Linger lost. After watching the game carefully, it turned out that Linger lost the game on purpose, which is what prompted the team’s immediate disqualification from the OMEGA League.
Linger and the five active players of the roaster are barred from participating in any esports event organised by EPIC Esports and WePlay! According to the latest announcement, the ban is only for one year but things could go downhill for Linger if other organizers also put a ban on Linger, a fairly common happening the world of esports. Once a team or a player is accused of match-fixing or any sort of unlawful practice, the crime stains their entire career.
Matches are fixed not only on winning or losing the game but also revolve around a number of in-game events such as first blood (first kill), F10K (first 10 kills), the total number of kills or the kill difference the two teams.
Omega League is the biggest esports tournament of 2020 with a prize pool of $550,000. It will bring together some of the best teams from around the world. The tournament will take place both in Asia and Europe it is hosted by WePlay! Esports and EPIC Esports.
The online Dota 2 tournament came in as an unofficial substitute of The International, the biggest esports event organised by Valve for Dota 2. The year’s TI, with a prize pool of over $35 million, was supposed to be held in Shanghai, China. However, in the wake of the pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus, it was postponed to 2021.