CS:GO Player Joel Holmlund Banned by ESIC

With CS2 about to arrive, the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) has banned young CS:GO player Joel "joel" Holmlund from ESIC-sanctioned esports events over match-fixing allegations.

ESIC's decision to ban Joel came "in light of current evidence" that Joel "committed multiple breaches of the ESIC Anti-Corruption Code" while playing for GODSENT earlier in 2023.

CS:GO Esports Player Joel "joel" Holmlund Banned!

Here are the instances where the rule violations occurred:

• "Between March 27, 2023 and March 28, 2023, Mr. Holmlund bet on matches he played in;
• "On March 31, 2023, Mr. Holmlund placed two bets against his own team in a match;
• "Between March 29, 2023 and May 1, 2023, Mr. Holmlund placed 17 bets on various CS:GO matches."

ESIC's investigation into these allegations was enough to ban Joel from all ESIC Membership events such as ESL, DreamHack and BLAST. This will also ban Joel from participating in Valve-sanctioned events. In other words, he won't be eligible to take part in any CS:GO or CS2 Major Championship or many other top-tier events.

Joel's current status is "temporarily suspended" due to administrative delays in the Red Decision Notice. ESIC's final ruling on the investigation, and Joel's possible ban length, will be announced on or after October 6, 2023.

Joel "joel" Holmlund Responds to Match-Fixing Allegations!

The Swedish player revealed on Twitter that he was first notified of the allegations against him on August 30, and that he was initially told no action would be taken against him. Joel also said he felt ESIC was under outside pressure to pursue him.

The 30th of August I recieved a notice of charge from ESIC, I instantly jumped on a call with Ian Smith, head of ESIC. They then decided no further actions would be taken at that point of time. After my qualifcation to BLAST and several tweets from different induviduals I believe…

— joel (@joelholmlund) September 20, 2023

Until his recent troubles, Joel was seen as a promising CS:GO player. At just 18 years old, he regularly delivered top performances at GODSENT, which he joined in January this year. His form visibly dropped at the start of April, and before these events came to light, that was thought to be the reason he left GODSENT. GODSENT's statement on the matter reads as follows:

Update on our former Player Joel

Today we can reveal the reasons why we as of earlier this year benched and eventually parted ways with the Swedish player Joel who previously was part of our main roster.

Joel's suspension from Godsent followed us being informed of serious…

— GODSENT (@GODSENT) September 20, 2023