IEM Katowice 2022 is one of the most revered tournaments in CSGO, second only to a CSGO Major. Along with IEM Cologne (previously ESL One: Cologne), IEM Katowice is the stage where all the players hope to play at, one day. After 2 years, the tournament returns to LAN for the year 2022, after being the last tournament that took place on LAN before the coronavirus pandemic hit in 2020.
In the latest edition, IEM Katowice 2022 there have been reports of NaVi accidentally committing betting frauds, possibly due to a wrong buy. So what exactly happened that has resulted in these accusations against the best team in the world?
Natus Vincere vs FURIA, Buying M249 and Betting Fraud Accusations
During a Group Stage match between Natus Vincere and FURIA, NaVi were leading the first map by 12-2 and were in prime position to take the map. In the final round, Perfecto bought an M249 which was slightly unexpected as he already had an AK-47 in his hands. Teams sometimes get carried away and as a way of trolling, buy unusual weapons such as the Negev, shotguns, or like here, and M249. The official NaVi Twitter account even tweeted about it
This would’ve been thought of as a misbuy, or just Perfecto trolling.
But before the game, twitter user ‘cmartforever’ had tweeted this:
“You know what? If it passes, I am making myself a tattoo with: 1) M249 2) Natus Vincere and 3) players s1mple, Boombl4, b1t, electronic, perfecto. Retweets/likes and good luck to NaVi in #IEMKatowice2022 #Maincast”
The bet was that one of the NaVi players would buy an M249, and although the bet was just $20, the odds were astronomical at 501:1.
cmartforever succeeded as NaVi did buy an m249 during their game vs FURIA and caster Leniniw, for the main cast tweeted out:
“Furiously laughed at M249 buy. Respects are flying across all universe. cmartforever, WE DID IT”
Another thing that is of interest, is that cmartforever made a bet with a bookmaker who happens to be the sponsor of NAVI. All in all, that looks like a definite breach of competitive integrity and conflict of interests.
What will be the consequences of these betting fraud accusations against NaVi?
This isn’t the first incident of betting fraud occurring in competitive sports. Bizarre bets are always made and one such example of it is Sutton United goalkeeper Wayne Shaw. Wayne Shaw ate a pie during an FA Cup game vs Arsenal FC. One of the bookmakers offered 8:1 odds for this event occurring and Shaw admitted he was aware that a bet had been made. The goalkeeper was banned for two months and fined £375 by the Football Association.
Whether ESL or ESIC open up an investigation about this matter remains to be seen. It is safe to assume that NaVi will be penalized and will pay a fine, SHOULD Perfecto admit to knowing about the bet. Or if the investigation finds Perfecto guilty, the punishment could be even more severe, only time will tell.
The original report that first broke the news can be found here.
Also Read | ASTRALIS SEND FNATIC PACKING FROM IEM KATOWICE 2022
