Dota 2 team Newbee, along with their entire roster, has been permanently banned from participating in future Valve events for match fixing, as confirmed in an announcement today.
The reason behind the ban of Newbee is the alleged involvement of the team in a match fixing scandal.
The ban is effective as of January 1st, 2021.
The members of team Newbee who received the ban include the following players:
- Xu “Moogy” Han
- Yin “Aq” Rui
- Wen “Wizard” Lipeng
- Yan “Waixi” Chao
- Zeng “Faith” Hongda
The ban likely comes after an in-depth investigation on the alleged match-fixing scandal against Avengers in the StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor Qualifiers.
For the unaware, Newbee are one of the most popular teams in the professional Dota 2 scene and the winners of The International 4. They also attained the second place in TI 7.
What Is Match Fixing in Dota2?
Match fixing in any competitive game is when one team intentionally throws a match, usually in exchange of money. Other instances include a certain player betting against his own game and throwing for some extra money.
Match fixers often tend to throw selective bets (like first 10 kills) rather than the entire game to make it harder for people to find out for certain if they’re throwing matches.
Match fixing is growing increasingly common not only in Dota 2, but other esports as well. While fans may find Newbee’s ban hard to digest, it’s certain to work as an example for players looking to fix games and discourage them from doing so.
