Valve has issued an official response to the cheating scandal that rocked profesional Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) tournaments, stating that disqualified teams will have their Regional Major Rankings (RMR) points reset and that the role of coaches could be limited.

The so-called coaching bug in CS:GO, which has reportedly been present in the game for years, led to three coaches being banned from the league following an investigation by the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC). Nicolai ‘HUNDEN’ Petersen of Heroic received a 12-month suspension; Ricardo ‘dead’ Sinigaglia of MIBR received a 6-month suspension; and Aleksandr ‘MechanoGun’ Bogatryev of Hard Legion received a 24-month suspension.

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The bug allowed coaches to view CS:GO games as spectators with a free camera, enabling them to provide inside information on opponents’ positions within the game to their teams. This point-based qualification system, which was used to determine invitations to the CS:GO Major Championships in Rio de Janeiro, will temporarily put on hold since the event has been canceled, though teams can still accumulate points for future events and the CS:GO Major Championships next year.

Valve says that the organization expects teams to follow the rules, as well as immediately alert organizers if they detect any issues that may give them or their opponents an advantage. The publisher/developer has had coaching issues in the past, and are considering “limitations to coaching,” which may include bans from third party tournament organizers as well.

“As for taking action against individual coaches, we’re going to wait until we get a complete picture of the extent of the bug abuse and the punishments handed down by third parties,” Valve said.

In 2016, Valve imposed a rule for CS:GO events that forbade coaches from interacting with players while matches were underway. Under the newly established guidelines, coaches were only allowed to talk to players during pregame warm-ups, timeouts, and at halftime. Valve explained that unrestricted access to teams during matches essentially resulted in coaches performing as a sixth player.

Source: CounterStrike.net

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