BREAKING: Players sanctioned in MDL PH match fixing banned from MLBB national team competitions for 3 years

The three players involved in the MDL Philippines match-fixing fiasco have been banned from Philippine national esports team events for three years.

In a press conference held Sunday, Philippine Esports Organization (PESO) executive director Marlon “Lon” Marcelo announced that all three players that were earlier suspended by MOONTON Games: Jhonjie Paul “Jiee” dela Rosa of TNCZ4, and now ex-RSG El Ganador players Raven “Aeris” Arellano and Christian John “Nyija” Calantoc, will be banned for three years from all national team tournaments, sanctioned events, and organized events by the Philippine Esports Organization.

This means, Jiee, Aeris, and Nyija will not be allowed to join the PH esports national team SIBOL, or join events that are organized or sanctioned by PESO, such as the ongoing Unity League national esports tournament.

 

The three players have already been sanctioned by MOONTON Games with their own 3-year ban on the major competitive leagues for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang: MPL Philippines, MDL Philippines, and all MOONTON-sanctioned events.

“There were a lot of talks on how long the ban will be and how severe it is for these athletes, because we understand that these athletes deserve another chance,” Marcelo told reporters. “But we must be very strict and make sure that these kinds of things do not happen again,” he added.

Marcelo also noted that the SIBOL and PESO ban, as of press time, will be only limited to MLBB, and they are currently deliberating on extending it to other esports titles.

MOONTON Games Esports League Operations Head Matthew Chan also said that they cannot accurately call at the moment if the games that were involved in the match-fixing scandal had obvious or glaring moments of intentional losing.

“That’s a question that we’ve faced even from our internal teams,” Chan said. “The upfront thing is, there is never a way to say, because players can have off days. You cannot really say like, this guy is saying wrong things, or he’s making a bad call. If that’s the case, then every game is going to be up for question.”

Chan also added that the developers have had open communication mechanisms between teams, league operations, and MOONTON itself for quick resolution of in-game concerns.

Marcelo added that the PESO is open to conduct trainings and awareness campaigns for players and teams to avoid players, especially minor esports athletes, from being involved in match-fixing scandals.

“On our side, PESO, we will be stepping in and we have our own internal protocols on how to combat it (game-fixing),” Marcelo said. “We will be asking representatives from all the teams, managers, team owners, and captains, and we have to sit down, and tell them how to combat this.”

Marcelo also added that part of their actions in addressing this issue is to coordinate with the Games and Amusement Board, the Philippines’ regulatory body for professional esports tournaments, to determine further sanctions for the three players and for another personality named in the scandal, Jigen Paul Masangkay.

Masangkay’s case, Marcelo says, is still being investigated.