After a thorough investigation of the RGL Invite Highlander Grand Finals matchup between
Kingdom Death Monster and Fred VI, the RGL team has concluded that all players participating in the match on
Fred VI purposely threw and undermined competitive integrity in their match. This compromise of competitive integrity is a direct violation of the RGL.gg Global Rules.
The demo for the RGL Highlander Invite Season 5 Grand Finals is available
here along with the logs
here.
The team was involved with the following:
- Offclassing to a suboptimal team composition with players on their offclasses
- Staying idle in spawn or refusing to fight an opponent
During this investigation, the RGL admins were able to review the STV demos, in-game chat logs, and were sent additional evidence that corroborated and demonstrated the players' admittance to purposely throw the match. This behavior compromises the competitive integrity of the league and is not acceptable in any capacity.
Directly after the match, the general attitude of players displayed little care or remorse for their actions, which adds to the context of the intention to throw, which can be seen
here. As representatives of the league, these players have failed to uphold the sportsmanlike integrity that the league encourages. In a league that is constantly trying to grow and develop, the ability to obtain sponsors is a key aspect that the organization has sought out after. It does not bode well, when your top players are engaging in this behavior. This is why we have unequivocally pushed for larger punishments on our Invite players, since they often participate in casted matches and represent the league in which they play in.
Ruling
Due to the sabotage of competitive integrity in the RGL HL Season 5 Invite Grand Finals,
all players on Fred VI participating in the grand finals match will be issued a 1-year long minimum sentence and enter probation from all RGL-operated events, as well as current and future RGL platforms for violation of Rule 1008.11. Match throwing, especially at an Invite level will not be tolerated.
Fred VI will be removed from the playoff bracket, their prize money will be forfeited, and they will be suspended from the league. This will coincide with the forfeiture of medals for the entire team, with the revocation of their 2nd place title. Lastly, the team will be removed from the Invite Highlander Season 5 awards.
The following players include:
All $354 of the forfeited prize money will be donated to the United Way charity, which aims to fight for health, education, and financial stability of individuals in every community. We will be looking to compensate the RGL Production Staff that took time out of their day to try to cover the match:
DolphiN,
VoxDei, and
Flare.
Our ruling falls in line with competitive rulings on match throwing as seen in
Rocket League and
CS:GO.
Players on Kingdom Death Monster, players on other Invite teams, players of other divisions, production and admin staff on RGL, and most importantly -- players of the community all anticipated and wanted to view a closely fought match with integrity. The time and effort spent by the players to prepare for this match and for the production team to set up and cover the match was completely undermined by the lack of care and respect by the individuals at hand. In a grassroots competitive scene that is run by volunteers, the disrespect for those involved is an aspect that can only be described as disgraceful. We will ultimately move forward and we apologize for players expecting a good showing.