Match fixing or match throwing has long been a problem with CS:GO scene. There have been many cases where the heavy favorites just magically lose to the underdogs. The most infamous case in CS:GO was the scandal with iBUYPOWER match-fixing scandal. The act of fixing a match totally ruins sportsmanship in Esports and delivers a negative experience for spectators.
In a recent match between Queso and the Tenerife Titans in Spanish LVP Superliga Orange, there were lots of suspicious things going on. Queso was the favorite team to win the match but they failed to do so, losing 14-16 to Tenerife Titans. With many strange moves and plays in the late game, the team came up against lots of criticism and accusation that they intended to lose the match. The result raised some questions if Queso deliberately did this to avoid matching with Giants, the top seed team in the tournament, in the playoffs.
Suspecting the team of throwing for the purpose of betting, LVP admins contacted the Esports Integrity Coalition (ESIC) to get more information from betting sites if that was indeed the case, the independent regulator denied.
However, After browsing the match log, as the game was played online, LVP found that players from Queso communicated with each other with lines such as "it was hard to lose this round, I don't know why you won the last one," "it's hard to not kill them, I missed 30 bullets shooting him in the back and he didn't even turn around," or "we'll throw on the CT side."
Upon confirming the suspicion, LVP officially announced that the five players on Queso are banned seven matches, disqualified from the upcoming playoffs of the tournaments, which will kick off in June. Following LVP's announcement, Queso stated that they accepted LVP's decision and that they would release the five players from the roster as they did not conform with the values and philosophy of the organization. Queso officially disbanded.
Queso's lineup was:
Peter "shhhack" Belej
Michal "EMENK" Belej
Carlos "sc4rx" Sánchez
Pere "sausol" Solsona Saumell
Omar "arki" Chakkor