CIS teams join forces to request an investigation of Akuma

A jointed collective of CIS teams, all competing at the newly-concluded EPIC League CIS 2021, has reached out to Valve via an open letter, to request an official investigation of the potential cheating scandal at the CIS RMR event, regarding the Ukrainian team Akuma.

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In the open letter, they write that “… we suspect that the AKUMA team/players received live data from third parties on external devices in order to gain the unfair advantage of seeing opponents’ positions on the map at all times.”

This situation could end up being very damaging for the CS:GO scene, as it could end up hurting the credibility between players and the scene if the accusations were true. However, it could also shed a light on how some tournament organizers run their events, which could change for the better.

Something, NAVI, Gambit, and company also wish to change, as they explain in their letter that they also want to enforce some better and more strict protocols in the future.

You can read the full letter down below (Not signed by Akuma and ex-Marlian)

Open letter to VALVE’s CS:GO division

Dear CS:GO team,

We want to share our feedback on the CIS RMR held by the RESF. Our mutual concern is a suspicion of dishonest play from the AKUMA team / players. Based on the information we have, we suspect that the AKUMA team/players received live data from third parties on external devices in order to gain the unfair advantage of seeing opponents’ positions on the map at all times.

In its statement, RESF claimed that no evidence was found that Akuma violated the integrity of the tournament. However, we doubt that the investigation followed all of the appropriate protocols because of the following limitations:

- TeamSpeak communications were never recorded. Teams repeatedly questioned this decision and asked that all communications be recorded, but their requests were dismissed. The RESF explained this with the fact that recording TeamSpeak communications was not in Valve’s requirements. However, we believe that recording TeamSpeak communications has long been the norm for every big tournament, not to mention the qualifiers for a Major;

- There was no third-party anti-cheat, which has long been an industry standard and an additional tool for any leading TO; - In some of the matches there was no GOTV delay, while in others there was a delay of up to 30 seconds.

Considering this, we ask that you involve ESIC or any other competent authority not only to conduct a full investigation into AKUMA, but also to lay out protocols to ensure that this scenario will not occur again in the future. If the legitimacy of AKUMA’s actions is confirmed, this will also help their players by minimizing any pressure that they might face from the community in future tournaments.

Given the specifics of the described situation, we are eager to provide all the information our teams have in order to find the truth behind what happened.

 For the upcoming tournaments, regardless of the outcome of the investigation, we believe that following requirements should be considered:

- Data providers can only sell data with a 20-30 second delay; - TeamSpeak communications must be recorded by all teams for every game;

- GOTV must have a 120-second delay;

- In addition to a camera in front of the player, there should be an extra camera capturing the whole setup of the player;

- Additional anti-cheat on top of VAC;

- Other (TBD)

We recognize that data providers are an essential part of the CS:GO ecosystem, and this should continue to be the case. However, we need to make sure that this data is safe from those willing to abuse the system and gain unfair competitive advantage.

We look forward to your feedback.

Yours faithfully,

 100PG

1WIN

bankaPepsi

Entropiq

forZe

Gambit

Grond

IN.GAME

K23

NAVI

Nemiga

Team Spirit

Team Unique

Trident

Virtus.pro