An agency going by the name ‘The Experimental Hub’ in Mumbai supposedly paid students to attend ESL One Mumbai, a (now deleted) report by EsportsPortal suggested.
The report which was further carried by NDTV Gadgets also confirms the existence of these groups on social networks. The modus operandi as directed, was simplified just by the use of Google Forms & a certain WhatsApp group, which urged people to follow the ‘steps’ and claim their INR 100 reward for attending.
This further got attraction when several people on Facebook groups confirmed getting a free ticket to the event. One such attendee is interestingly an ex-employee of Nodwin Gaming, Rohan Parte, who worked with the organization for a very short period of time. Update: Rohan Parte confirmed us that he had bought the tickets, but a friend of his got the ticket free from this campaign.
We spoke with Nodwin Gaming’s COO Gautam Virk on the allegations, where he simply denied the accusations. He further mentioned that few partners were hosting giveaways of the tickets, merchandise & other collectibles. Perhaps, whoever was involved, wasn’t a part of Nodwin or ESL, and did it in their own capacity.
We have not paid any member of the general public to come to the event.
– Gautam virk
The groups on WhatsApp which were earlier giving free passes, couldn’t be traced at the time of writing this report. We couldn’t independently verify the authenticity of the claims made.
The posts which appeared on Facebook earlier promoting free passes also returned with a 404.
Mr. Virk further asserted his point by hinting to seek feedback from the pro players & audience about the ambiance of the event. “We at NODWIN and ESL believe that the people in the stadium are the best people to comment on the genuine nature of the crowd at the event.
