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Counter-Strike professional team, Orgless, claims their owner asked them to throw an upcoming tournament, prompting the team to quit and start searching for a new sponsor.
Valve recently came out strongagainst Counter-Strike match fixing at tournaments, saying anyone caught participating in such activities will face a life-long ban from all Valve-sponsored events. Despite the potentially severe consequences of match fixing, one professionalteam claims their owners asked them to do it at an upcoming event, so they quit.
The claim comes from the team known as “Orgless”, who say it was CSGO.one who made the match-fixing request. CSGO.one is a site where users can gamble on Counter-Strike games with in-game skins. One member of Orgless, André “BARBARR” Möller, shared his perspective with HLTV:
“We are from today called Team Orgless after being proposed by CSGO.one to throw our upcoming games in Operation Kinguin. We want to make it clear that we are never going to accept such behavior. We are now seeking support for our upcoming tournaments, such as the European Minor and Assembly Winter.”
The idea that a Counter-Strike gambling site would be involved in match fixing isn’t too farfetched, considering the outcome of a tournamenthas a significant impact on their profits. In fact, it seems like such an organization even owning or sponsoring a professional team would be a hefty conflict of interest.
Not surprisingly, CSGO.one’s co-owner, who goes by KoltVP, offered a different point-of-view on the incident, claimingCSGO.one was simply testing the team’s dedication to integrity in the sport:
“We decided to ask flash (even not team) about what is his opinion about this things. We never offered or made our players do stuff like this. This was only work question to dot the i’s and cross the t’s. Organisation has to be sure in its players and their professionalism. And seems like our ex-team misunderstood us.”
It seems somewhat hard to believe a full team of players would give up the financial stability of a sponsor over a simple misunderstanding. If the question from CSGO.one was simply to test the waters with the team, this isn’t the outcome one would expect.
On that point, KoltVP said he believes the players used the situation as an excuse to leave CSGO.one for a better offer. Given the success Orgless has experienced lately one could see the situation playing out that ways as well. There are undoubtedly many companies impressed with their recent success that would be open to picking up the team. Though one would wonder if Orgless’s current contract would even allow such a move.
It’s likely players haven’t heard the last of this current shake up, or of Counter-Strike match fixing in general. Despite Valve’s iron fist on the subject, there are surely many people willing to take a chance at match fixing in order to benefit financially.
What do you think about this situation? Do you sympathize with either side? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.