nifee receives four-year ban from ESIC

The Esports Ethics Commission (ESIC) announced the disqualification of 21-year-old Ukrainian esports athlet Dmytro "nifee" Tediashvili after conducting a "a detailed investigation into match manipulation and betting-related corruption". Note that nifee was "temporarily" benched by Inner Circle on October 22 of last year.

In a press release, ESIC explained that they had discovered a series of unusual incidents in Inner Circle matches during ESL Pro League Season 22, involving repeated deaths from molotovs and incendiary grenades, which coincided with "unusual spikes in betting volume on the relevant in-game outcome market". The commission stated that these bets originated from newly created, previously inactive, and high-budget accounts and were outside the expected range for this market.

In parallel, gameplay review and expert analysis identified repeated decision-making patterns that were inconsistent with normal competitive behaviour, including instances where the player was assessed as unnecessarily exposing themselves to damage without meaningful competitive engagement

The regulator also added that in its initial interview, nifee denied violating ESIC rules, but "ultimately admitted to the conduct and provided assistance relevant to the broader investigation". For its cooperation, nifee's punishment was reduced to four years instead of five, meaning he will be banned from participating in all ESIC partner tournaments from October 21, 2025, to October 20, 2029.

Inner Circle issued the following statement:

First of all, our organization strongly condemns such behavior, as we entered this industry to achieve the highest sporting results and adhere to the principles of fair play in everything we do. Therefore, we consider this kind of unprofessionalism and misconduct to be absolutely unacceptable.

Secondly, after receiving information about suspicious activity from ESIC, we decided to place the player on the bench for the duration of the process and launched our own internal investigation, while simultaneously cooperating with the ESIC investigation.

As a result, last autumn we made the preventive decision not to include Nifee in the TNL acquisition deal, as we had doubts regarding the integrity of this player.

Origin: x.com