KeSPA Statement
Hello, this is director Cho Man Soo of the Korean e-Sports Association.
The association opened a disciplinary hearing today. We plan to ban Gerrard (Prime head coach) and YoDa for life and permanently suspend their licenses.
Since 2010, the association has worked alongside the rest of the industry to fight against the illegal betting that has continued to threaten the foundation of e-Sports. It is extremely regrettable that a related incident has occurred again, and we apologize to all of the fans who have shown e-Sports their love and support.
This is the association's understanding of the situation:
Toward the end September, we confirmed that PRIME's Gerrard and YoDa had been arrested and incarcerated by public prosecutors on charges related to illegal betting and match-fixing.
The case is currently under investigation, and as such we expect details to be released at a later time by the Prosecutor's office. The association will actively cooperate in the investigation, and if any others are found to be involved in the case, they will be banned for life regardless of the result of a trial. Depending on the circumstances, the association may sue for damages and/or file charges on grounds of obstruction.
Since 2013, the association has enacted regular anti-corruption education for all head coaches, coaches, and players competing in Proleague. The association also received agreements from coaching staff and players that they could be subject to measures under civil and/or criminal law should they be involved in illegal betting. Furthermore, starting in 2014, we started a program reward those who reported or confessed to illicit activities, and signed an MOU (memorandum of understanding) with the police department's Cyber Bureau, the Korea Communications Standards Commission, and the Korea Internet Self-governance Organization for a clean e-Sports environment.
The association independently learned that Gerrard and YoDa were involved illegal betting from an anonymous source seeking a reward. While investigating the case internally, we learned that the Prosecutor's office had made arrests and were holding an investigation, and we have been receiving legal advice since then.
The association will pursue strong legal measures based on recent reports, and will be utterly uncompromising should investigators find any hint of connection. Going forward, the association's stance toward illegal betting will continue to be one of zero-compromise, and we will continue to respond strongly to create a healthy e-Sports culture.
The League of Legends team SBENU, which was run by Gerrard, will be run under the association's stewardship, and there will be no interruptions in the operations of the team.
Once again, we apologize for worrying all of the fans of Korean e-Sports and everyone who works tirelessly for the advancement of e-Sports.
Korean Sources have confirmed that up to 11 people have been indicted on matchfixing charges. It has also been confirmed that Prime Coach Gerrard and YoDa are two of these people and have been given lifetime bans. Others involved not known, but are most likely brokers or people involved on the betting side of things. More info to come.
RPV: Se ha confirmado que 11 personas están involucradas en el amaño de partidas y apuestas ilegales, entre ellos Gerrard (coach de SBENU) y YoDa, y han sido condenados con un ban de por vida. Las demás personas no se ha dicho quienes son, pero son personas involucradas en el negocio de las apuestas. Supongo que estos días se irán sabiendo mas cosas del tema.
