joel receives lifetime ban from CS2 pro scene

The Esports Ethics Commission (ESIC) has banned Joel "joel" Holmlund for life for "multiple and serious breaches" of the code of conduct. "ESIC has determined that Mr. Holmlund engaged in deliberate cheating and subsequent attempted intimidation of ESIC in connection with its enforcement processes", the commission claimed in a statement.

According to the ESIC investigation, joel's computer was found to be running a "premium hardware cheat" (Asdfware EFI bootkit), which included an aimbot, triggerbot, and ESP cheats. The software was detected by the Akros anti-cheat and confirmed upon further analysis.

The commission also reported that joel admitted his guilt in a written response to the charges. At joel's request, ESIC delayed the publication of the charges to allow him to "facilitate his transition into alternative employment". However, after this period ended, the esports athlete attempted to blackmail ESIC by threatening to spread false accusations in order to prevent the publication of the investigation.

This latest misconduct constitutes Mr. Holmlund’s third breach of the ESIC Integrity Program within a 24-month period and reflects a sustained disregard for the principles of integrity and fair play in esports.

The commission determined that the player violated one clause of the anti-corruption code and 11 clauses of the code of conduct. "Given the seriousness and sustained nature of Mr. Holmlund’s breaches, ESIC has imposed a lifetime ban effective immediately", the statement claims . This means a permanent ban on participation in any role in all tournaments, leagues and events held by the ESIC members.

Note that the 20-year-old Swedish player has not appeared on the Counter-Strike 2 pro scene since August 2024, when he was banned by the Akros anti-cheat immediately after entering the server in the BC.Game match against B8 at CCT Season 2 Europe Series 7. The club then immediately excluded the player from the roster for an investigation, while joel himself insisted on his innocence.

Notably, this is not the first scandal involving joel. For example, in September 2023, he was temporarily suspended from participating in tournaments when he competed for GODSENT. An ESIC investigation then found that the player had bet on matches in which he was involved, but the commission found no convincing evidence of match-fixing activities. The ban ultimately lasted four months.

Origin: x.com