The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) has banned professional Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) player Erkhan “gokushima” Bagynanov from all ESIC-member events for two years for match-fixing. Bagynanov is eligible for reinstatement March 26, 2026; he must comply with ESIC Anti-Corruption Code during his exile to have any chance to compete again.
Though ESIC did not detail what exactly Bagynanov did, it cited both the “Corruption” and “Betting” sections of the Anti-Corruption code in a public statement on Thursday. When taken in combination, it certainly adds up to Bagynanov doing something to improperly influence the outcome of CS2 matches in connection with betting. Even without match-fixing, betting on any ESIC match is against the organization’s rules.
Bagynanov had played for famed Russian eSports organization FORZE since October 2023. On April 2 of this year, the team announced that it was benching Bagynanov, along with players “shalfey,” “tn1r,”and “SELLTER” and transferring Evgeny “r3salt” Frolov to Aurora. It is not known if any of these roster moves were related to the match-fixing scandal.
made over $100,000 from match-fixing, possibly as much as $300,000-$400,000
Russian Counter-Strike insider Aleksey “OverDrive” Biryukov, who has both played and coached professionally, alleges that Bagynanov fixed around 80 games when he was with his previous team, HOTU. He added that Bagynanov made over $100,000 from match-fixing, possibly as much as $300,000-$400,000, and that he “shared this himself.”
The last part tracks, as ESIC said in its statement that its investigation followed “the receipt of a detailed interview transcript and corroborating evidence including admissions indicating match-fixing activities.”
