asap handed 12-month ban over fake ID submission

The Australian player attempted to sign up for a 2v2 competition that had a minimum age requirement of 18.

Rooster player Tyson "⁠asap⁠" Paterson has been banned from all ESL, DreamHack and ESEA tournaments for 12 months after providing false identification documents in order to circumvent an age restriction in a 2v2 tournament hosted by ESL Australia on November 28, it was announced on Friday.

asap, 17, attempted to sign up for the tournament despite not meeting its minimum age requirement of 18. With the player having previously competed in tournaments in which his age was stated as 17, ESL initiated a verification process and then requested proof of the date-of-birth that was provided.

"To verify the date-of-birth, photo ID was requested, to which a falsified ID document was submitted to ESL," the tournament organiser explained. "ESL’s request for video material to verify the authenticity of the ID document was denied.

"Following the gathering of the falsified document and additional information, the player was informed about a possible suspension. The player then went on to send a video of the real ID and admitted that he was indeed 17 and after some further talking he admitted that he had sent in a false ID to try and get around the 18+ restriction."

The severity of the punishment was determined on recommendation from the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC), ESL has said.

The ban is the latest blow for the Oceanic Counter-Strike scene, which in October saw seven MDL players, including two teammates of asap's, Akram "⁠ADK⁠" Smida and Corey "⁠nettik⁠" Browne, slapped with 12-month bans by ESIC for placing bets on the ESEA league and other CS:GO matches.

Rooster were on December 1 removed from the Oceanic division of DreamHack Masters Winter due to an "ongoing investigation" into one of the team's players, whose name was not revealed at the time. With ADK and nettik already suspended, the team lost the core of the lineup that qualified for the tournament and were replaced by Chiefs.