Banhammer falls in OGN's Game of Throws, police investigation ongoing

OGN’s APEX Challenger league has confirmed a match-fixing scandal that occurred in February. On February 15 2017, Jin Seok-hoon and Baek Min-je of the team Luminous Solar were alleged to have attempted bribing another team, Unlimited, into forfeiting their matches in the league in exchange for gaming gear and sponsorships. These allegations were confirmed on February 13 by OGN. The match occurred during the wildcard bracket on day two of the offline event to qualify of APEX Challengers Season 3.

In turn, the two coaches have been permanently banned from all OGN tournaments and leagues, and Choi Yoon-soo of Unlimited is banned from playing in the next Challenger League. As an organization, Luminous Solar has also been banned from all OGN events, but the players themselves are allowed to participate in them.

Besides attempted bribery, Jin and Baek have also been confirmed to have planned to forfeit their remaining matches as well as using a forged medical certificate for Son Min-seok, one of their team members, to use a substitute player for his position.

OGN apologized for the match-fixing in an article on Inven (thanks to reddit user FarEastOctopus for the translation):

As the organizer of the league, we are deeply sorry for all viewers, fans and players about the incident. We will actively act against violation of rules by all players and coaches. Also, we will do our best to make all players and coaches to have strong sense of fair play and sportsmanship.

Previously, OGN has faced match-fixing scandals in League of Legends. This scandal was a factor in the attempted suicide of a member of ahq’s Korean roster, Promise. The Korean e-sports scene has also faced match-fixing scandals in StarCraft 2 and StarCraft: Brood War. Although the fate of the coaches lies in the on-going police investigation by South Korean police, most of the aforementioned StarCraft players have received fines and jail time for their actions.