ESL has introduced changes to its rules related to VAC banned players and will now bar players from competing in its standalone tournaments only if the ban has happened in the past two years.

The rule, which was formerly used in lower tier ESL and ESEA competitions such as ESEA Premier (where we saw Simeon "⁠dream3r⁠" Ganev compete and ultimately win the Global Challenge LAN), will now be added to ESL's top tier competitions: IEM, ESL One and ESL Pro League from Season 6.



Players such as KQLY will now be able to compete in ESL events

The new rule, which will debut at IEM Sydney, can be found in the IEM Season 12 rulebook under "2.5 Publisher or ESIC Bans":

"CSGO VAC bans are specifically honored, but only until 2 years after they have been issued."

After reaching out to ESL, the tournament organizer has confirmed that the same rule will be used at future IEM and ESL One tournaments, as well as in Pro League from next season. The only exception to the rule will still be Valve-supported tournaments, such as the Majors.

This now means that players like Joel "⁠emilio⁠" Mako, dream3r, Hovik "⁠KQLY⁠" Tovmassian, Gordon "⁠Sf⁠" Giry and Anil "⁠cLy⁠" Gülec will get another chance to compete at the highest level of CS. Players who have been banned for match-fixing do not fall under this rule, however, and will remain suspended indefinitely.

Professeur writes for HLTV.org and can be found on Twitter.