Counter-Strike coaching bug scandal

Bug abuse scandal in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive involving coaches.

The Counter-Strike coaching bug scandal involved a series of exploits in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive that allowed team coaches to view parts of the map and gather information about the opposing team. The bug was first made public on 26 August 2020 by Wisła Kraków coach Mariusz "Loord" Cybulski. The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) subsequently investigated and banned nearly 100 coaches over the following years.

Quick Facts

First made public: 26 August 2020
Disclosed by: Mariusz "Loord" Cybulski
Investigating body: Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC)
Bug fixed by: Valve Corporation

Facts from the source article.

Investigations

On 31 August 2020, ESIC banned three coaches: Ricardo "dead" Sinigaglia of Made in Brazil, Nicolai "HUNDEN" Petersen of Heroic, and Aleksandr "zoneR" Bogatiryev of Hard Legion. On 4 September, ESIC announced that tournament admin Michal Slowinski and ESEA software development manager Steve Dudenhoeffer would examine demos dating back to 2016. Coaches who confessed and assisted the investigation received up to a 60% reduction in suspension. After reviewing 20% of 99,650 demos, ESIC banned 37 coaches on 28 September for 3 to 36 months.

On 29 March 2022, Dexerto reported ESIC was close to finalizing its investigation. On 5 May, ESIC announced almost 100 coaches would be banned and temporarily suspended three unnamed coaches meant for the Antwerp Major. The next day, ESIC identified them as Sergey "hally" Shavayev of Team Spirit, Rafael "zakk" Fernandes of 9z, and Luis "peacemaker" Tadeu; hally and zakk encountered the static bug from 2018 to 2020, while peacemaker used the free-roam bug in March 2018, and none used the bug for more than two rounds.

Aftermath

Hard Legion coach Aleksandr "zoneR" Bogatiryev and K23 coach Aset "Solaar" Sembiyev were removed by their teams after their bans. mousesports coach Allan "Rejin" Petersen and Gambit coach Ivan "F_1N" Kochugov admitted exploiting the bug and were also removed. ENCE suspended coach Slaava "Twista" Räsänen after he was found to have used the bug in 2017, moving him to an analyst role; Heroic did the same with Nicolai "HUNDEN" Petersen. FaZe Clan head coach Janko "YNk" Paunović criticized this practice, saying the two did not "face the consequences for what [they've] done." forZe contested the ban of coach Sergey "lmbt" Bezhanov, providing explanations for three of four cases; his 7.5-month ban was lifted on 15 October 2020.

Robert "RobbaN" Dahlström stated the bug occurred to him once and that he muted his microphone during the match; FaZe Clan backed him. Alessandro "Apoka" Marcucci contested his ban, saying he was not at his PC in two cases. Valve fixed the bug on 26 August 2020, but on 15 May 2021, Sergey "lmbt" Bezhanov released a video showing he could still recreate it. On 28 January 2021, Valve changed Major Championship rules to ban coaches from joining the server and being in the same room as players during online matches, drawing criticism.