Six Counter-Strike players have ESL lifetime ban lifted following ESIC rule change

Following a rule change on Monday by the Esports Integrity Coalition (ESIC), tournament organizer ESL and the ESIC announced the Valve-banned Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players formerly of iBUYPOWER and Epsilon Esports will be eligible to participate in competitions hosted by ESL beginning August 1.

The rule changes outline a more consistent ruling against players who cheat, match-fix, dope, or take competitive bribes in competitions governed by the body. The unbanned players include include Sam "DaZeD" Marine, Joshua "Steel" Nissan, Keven "AZK" Larivière, Braxton "swag" Pierce, Joey "Fxy0" Schlosser, and Kevin "Uzi" Vernel. They were banned by Valve and affiliate tournament organizers like ESL, PGL, DreamHack, and the Esports Championship Series (ECS) for match-fixing since January and February 2015.

These players will be able to compete in non-Valve sponsored ESL events, such as the ESL Pro League, ESL One and Intel Extreme Masters events as long as those tournaments do not have a Valve-designated major title associated with them.

DreamHack, which shares a parent company with ESL in MTG and participates in the Esports Integrity Coalition, told ESPN on Monday that it has not changed its stance on disallowing the Valve-banned players to compete in its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive competitions.

"DreamHack has not changed stance on the eligibility of players who have been banned by Valve in our tournaments," DreamHack director of esports Michael Van Driel told ESPN.

Future cheaters will be banned for a period with a minimum of two years, with a potential of a lifetime ban, depending on a number of factors, including age, level of play, and nature of the tournament. Meanwhile future match-fixers will receive a five year ban. Doping results in a ban of 1-2 years and forfeiture of prize money, while bribes also result in a similar punishment.

In August of 2014, the iBUYPOWER players DaZeD, Steel, swag, and AZK threw a match versus NetcodeGuides, in corroboration with NetcodeGuides CEO Casey Foster while simultaneously betting against themselves on the skins gambling website CSGO Lounge. Following several reports by the Daily Dot, the players were lifetime banned by Valve.

Weeks later, Fxy0 posted on Facebook that he and Uzi had also match-fixed. They received a ban from Valve in February 2015.

Valve and other tournament organizers ECS, PGL, Gfinity, and ELeague have not made a public statement on if its stance changes as a result. ELeague and Valve did not respond to a request for comment.