37 CS:GO coaches have been banned for abusing the Spectator bug

Over the past month, multiple CS:GO coaches have been suspended for exploiting a Spectator bug that gave them an unfair advantage, allowing them a birds-eye view of portions of the map they wouldn't usually be able to see. The ESIC (Esports Integrity Commission) announced that matches from official ESL and DreamHack tournaments were analysed. Initially this resulted in bans for three coaches: MIBR's Ricardo "dead" Sinigaglia, Heroic's Nicolai "HUNDEN" Petersen, and Hard Legion's Aleksandr "MechanoGun" Bogatiryev.

The ESIC has now announced that it's issued sanctions against 37 coaches for using the glitch. So far, the commission has checked roughly 20 percent of the total demos available for review. However, they claim that the demos they've reviewed so far "likely comprise the most substantial cases of abuse".

Each offender has been assigned 'demerit points' that correspond to a specific sanction tier, which then outlines the duration of the ban. This standardises the sanctions to ensure that each person receives a fair penalty. Here are the sanctioning tiers and ban periods:

Tier 1 (Aggravated) (eight points): 36 months
Tier 1 Sanction (six to seven points): 18 months
Tier 2 Sanction (three to five points): 10 months
Tier 3 Sanction (fewer than three points): 5 months

Those who came forward and admitted to exploiting the bug in advance may see their ban period reduced, and individuals can appeal if they want to contest their suspensions.

The ESIC has also outlined that they couldn't be sure "whether the teams related to the offending parties were complicit in the exploitation of the Spectator Bug at the time that the offences took place". For now, here's the full list of the 37 coaches that have been banned, the team they're from, and how long each suspension will last:

Twista—iGame.com: 15.75 months
casle—maquinas: 10 months
Dinamito—Furious Gaming: 10 months
ArnoZ1K4—Evidence: 10 months
Rejin—Tricked: 19.8 months
glouDH—Freestyle: 10 months
prd—Neverest: 10 months
nook—QB Fire: 7.5 months
rikz—DETONA: 10 months
Apoka—Luminosity/INTZ/BOOM: 5.4 months
MechanoGun—Hard Legion: 36 months
Hellpopovich—9z: 10 months
fuRy^—DreamEaters: 7.5 months
Solaar—Syman/k23: 10 months
HUNDEN—Heroic: 8 months
dead—SK Gaming/MIBR: 6.5 months
guerri—FURIA: 4 months
pita—Ninjas in Pyjamas: 10 months
AKIMOV—Hard Legion: 7.5 months
F_1N—Gambit Youngsters: 8.75 months
ellllll—Imperial/paiN: 10 months
peu—W7M: 5 months
RobbaN—FaZe Clan: 5.5 months
Loord—Team Kinguin/Aristocracy: 6 months
ToH1o—ex-Outlaws/Windigo Gaming: 10 months
Andi—NAVI: 10 months
pepik—eSuba: 10 months
B1GGY—Heretics: 7.5 months
chrille—Epsilon/Red Reserve: 10 months
starix—NAVI: 10 months
ave—North: 6 months
rosey—Nordavind: 10 months
LMBT_R—Hellraisers/forZe: 7.5 months
FeTiSh—Heroic: 3.75 months
miNIr0x—AGO: 3.75 months
pNshr—SKADE: 3.75 months
ruggah—Dignitas: 3.75 months

The investigation also revealed that the Spectator Bug had previously been reported to admins in non-ESIC member tournaments as early as 2017, but the ESIC has stated that they were "not aware of how these reports were treated by non-members as we do not have operational visibility of any actions that were taken. Accordingly, ESIC will not make any comment relating to prior reports of the Spectator Bug to tournament admins by individuals."

Thanks, Dexerto.

As PC Gamer's guides writer, Emma is usually juggling several games at once. She loves competitive first-person shooters like CS:GO and Call of Duty, but she always has time for a few rounds of Hearthstone. She's happiest when she's rescuing pugs in Spelunky 2.