ESIC hands out lifetime ban to joel

ESIC brought down the hammer of perma-ban on Joel “joel” Holmlund yesterday and announced it through their press release. joel was found to have breached multiple codes of conduct and the anti-corruption code as per ESIC.

joel's ESIC intervention began at CCT Season 2 Europe Series 7 where he was playing for BC.Game. In a match against B8, Akros anti-cheat flagged and banned joel's account as soon as he joined the server for the second map. However, cheating allegations against joel had been in the air far before that.

BC.Game immediately removed joel from their roster and issued a statement on X. joel was also handed a provisional suspension in 2023 when he was played for Godsent. At the time, ESIC investigated him for match-fixing and concluded that no reasonable evidence was found despite his betting records showing bets on his own team.

joel's provisional suspension came to an end in January 2024 and within a few months, he was in ESIC's radar again. joel even took to X, making a statement voicing out his opinion on ESIC's continued intervention. The Swede went as far as calling out the entity for "False allegation, libel and slander".

Given the seriousness and sustained nature of Mr. Holmlund’s breaches, ESIC has imposed a lifetime ban effective immediately. This sanction includes:
A permanent prohibition on participation in any capacity in all events, tournaments, leagues, or activities hosted, organised, or affiliated with ESIC Members (and) a recommendation to non-Member Tournament Organisers and game publishers (including Valve) to honour and enforce this ban.
ESIC

In ESIC's latest investigation, the entity confirmed that hardware cheats were found on joel's PC which went by the name of "Asdfware EFI bootkit", entailing several tools like aimbot, ESP and triggerbot in what ESIC names as a "forensic analysis". The initial verdict was to impose a 24-month ban on joel. ESIC states that joel requested a "grace period" before going public to give him a head start on career alternatives.

However, ESIC claims that joel blackmailed ESIC with fabricated allegations in an attempt to silence the entity from going public. "However, following the expiration of this grace period, Mr. Holmlund issued a threat to blackmail ESIC, with fabricated allegations, in response to ESIC’s intention to make the matter public—an act ESIC considers to be an egregious breach of its Integrity Program." says ESIC.