HObbit implicated in match-fixing allegations by former teammate, denies involvement *

Rustam "⁠5TRYK#R⁠" Alimkulov has come forward with allegations and evidence of match-fixing attempts from several 2015 matches involving several well-known players from Kazakhstan.

Update: Abay "⁠HObbit⁠" Khassenov has denied the claims, saying he has "never been involved in match-fixing" and pledging to assist in ESIC's investigation.

Over the past week a former player and coach from Kazakhstan most known for his time coaching FORZE in 2017-2019, 5TRYK#R, has been making allegations that his former team, PARTY, was involved in several attempts of match-fixing in the StarLadder Regional Minor Championship CIS closed qualifier at the end of 2015.

The 31-year-old has made claims that the team, which he had put together and which included current Cloud9 player HObbit as well as Bektiyar "⁠fitch⁠" Bahytov, Adlet "⁠keeN⁠" Nyrseytov, and Magzhan "⁠fANTASTIKA⁠" Temirbolat, engaged in what is called spot-fixing — fixing an outcome of a specific aspect of a match on which a bookmaker has made bets available.

In this case, 5TRYK#R alleges the players of PARTY decided to lose the first pistol round of each of the three group stage matches on purpose and placed bets on that outcome. These were supposed to net each player around $5,000, although some of the bets were apparently canceled by the bookmaker after the fact due to the suspicion of nefarious activity.

To support his claims, 5TRYK#R has released several pieces of evidence, which he had kept for over six years now and came forward with at a time when he has gotten a "serious" medical diagnosis, saying he wishes to "put my morale in order by telling the whole truth about the former PARTY team and live with peace of mind."

The evidence includes videos with commentary over the pistol rounds in question on his YouTube channel, several screenshots from the website of the bookmaker, olimp.kz, a couple of screenshots of a conversation with HObbit, and a TeamSpeak recording from a talk with the team, which 5TRYK#R says took place a few months later and in which some of the other players seem to be discussing the possibility of throwing other matches for money.

Richard Lewis has compiled the evidence and translated parts of the conversations, which you can find in his Dexerto report.

According to the report, the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) has already begun a preliminary investigation process after all the material was forwarded to the watchdog. Cloud9 were also contacted for comment by Lewis and stated that they would conduct their own investigation into the matter.