CS:GO coaching scandal and the 37 bans issued by ESIC (The Esports Integrity Commission) were the topic of HLTV Confirmed S5E9, with guest Ian Smith, the commissioner of the organization, joining the show. Mr. Smith explained why no players were banned for the coach bug abuse (yet), and talked about determining the duration of coach bans for one-round uses (ruggah) and repeat offenders (zoneR), as well as where people like RobbaN, Apoka, and guerri fit in.

ESIC's commissioner also talked about the investigation in stream-sniping, MDL matchfixing, and banned players' possibility to move to other games. In the final part of the show, the panel discusses NAVI's chances to win ESL Pro League, oBo's dramatic departure from Complexity, and FURIA's boost.

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0:00 - Podcast intro

Hotseat with Ian Smith 

1:29 - Introducing Ian Smith

5:01 - What’s the idea of ESIC?

8:18 - Sports vs. esports in terms of integrity

12:43 - Coaching bug: what is it and how do we approach it?

21:49 - What phase is the investigation currently at? 

24:10 - Deciding length of bans

28:13 - zoneR’s 424 rounds offense and no life-time ban?

30:32 - 1 round bug use and 4-months ban?

34:24 - Communication with Valve

37:02 - Could there be successful appeals?

40:41 - What was the path to avoid the ban after getting bugged?

47:33 - Were there attempts to find out if players knew? 

54:01 - Stream-sniping in COVID era; ESIC’s resources issue

58:13 - The issue of match-fixing in CS 

1:02:11 - Can banned players move to VALORANT?

1:05:42 - Should teenage players be banned permanently?

1:08:03 - Valve's stance on betting

1:12:23 - CIS and China big betting issue

1:14:12 - Final words from Ian Smith

Recent news

1:19:20 - mouz, ENCE, Heroic - coaching situation

1:29:19 - oBo steps down, NaToSaphiX steps in coL

1:37:55 - vENdetta joins as Dignitas head coach

1:42:49 - peca added as FPX GM

ESL Pro League S12

1:49:21 - FURIA champions of EPL NA, 100T redeemed?

1:54:40 - European EPL playoffs favorites

2:03:01 - LOOTBET’s wonderful picture

HLTV Confirmed is a CS:GO talk show featuring Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill, Zvonimir "Professeur" Burazin, and Milan "Striker" Švejda, with guest appearances from community members such as TaZ, GeT_RiGhT, device, Maniac, Pimp, HenryG, YNk, JW, smooya, seang@res, and more. The show is based around interviews, breakdowns, analysis, and discussions about the esports and casual side of Counter-Strike.

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