Holmlund is being looked at under the Anti-Corruption Code which outlaws esports players from gambling on any esports, including matches they are involved on.

According to ESIC, there’s compelling evidence suggesting Holmlund placed bets on matches he was actively participating in between March 27 and 28. But that’s not the end of it.

On March 31, Holmlund allegedly went a step further, wagering against his own team in a game. From March 29 to May 1, he’s believed to have placed 17 bets across various CS:GO fixtures.

These transgressions were allegedly committed while Holmlund was competing under the banner of the Swedish esports powerhouse, Godsent, during events like BetBoom Playlist Urbanistic and IEM Dallas 2023 Europe Closed Qualifier.

Owing to these grave allegations, ESIC has temporarily benched Holmlund from participating in any tournaments aligned with ESIC members. The exact duration of this suspension remains undisclosed, with a comprehensive statement from ESIC expected in October 2023, post-investigation.

After receiving a Notice of Charge on August 30, Holmlund contested the allegations. This spurred ESIC into a deeper probe, and although the suspension remains intact, Holmlund has a window till October 6 to present any new evidence for consideration.

In a statement from ESIC, they emphasised the seriousness of the charges.

“Considering the gravity of the allegations, Mr. Holmlund’s current active participation in an ESIC-affiliated event, and being satisfied with the compelling evidence presented in its further investigation, ESIC has elected to suspend Mr Holmlund via a Rejection Order Notice,” it says.

The intricate investigation procedure includes a thorough analysis of digital imprints such as IP addresses, device specifics, and browser data; meticulous scrutiny of individual bets placed during the mentioned events; and a deep dive into betting trends concerning his professional engagement, among other aspects.

ESIC, established in 2015, is a non-profit entity that has been striving to uphold the sanctity of esports. With partnerships spanning betting firms, event organizers, governmental agencies, and other esports key players, its influence is noteworthy.

GODSENT, while commenting on the situation on the social media platform X said they were co-operating with ESIC’s investigation.

“Joel’s suspension from Godsent followed us being informed of serious allegations relating to match-fixing and betting in between the 27th of March and the 1st of May, on our own and other matches, coming from relevant parties in the industry,” they wrote.

“As soon as we retrieved the information we immediately suspended Joel from play. Then we have been closely collaborating with ESIC in helping them build a case and collecting evidence in collaboration with third parties.”

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In a Twitter post, the organization revealed that the two players were open to exploring new opportunities, and thanked them for their contributions.

“Yesterday Draken was moved to the bench from the main team and Rusty has been made a free agent. They both will be pursuing new opportunities going forward. We thank them for their hard work and wish them the best moving forward,” GODSENT wrote.

They also promised to share more information and updates in the coming weeks.

The news comes two weeks after GODSENT benched Joel “?joel?” Holmlund. The team currently only has two players on the active lineup, including Nicolas “?Plopski?” Gonzalez Zamora and Erik “?ztr?” Gustafsson. Maikil “?Golden?” Selim is also still with GODSENT as the team’s coach/stand-in.

draken shared the news on his social media account, asking interested teams to reach out to him.

“Different views/vision on this Counter-Strike project, but this is best for all parts [sic]. I wish the team and staff good luck! Contact me or [my agency] if interested, still want to play and prove myself,” draken wrote.

RuStY made a similar post after the official announcement: “Due to a few circumstances, I feel like this project never really had a chance to succeed. With that said I’m looking for new opportunities, if you need a player or a stand-in, don’t hesitate to contact me.”

RuStY and draken have been a part of the Swedish organization since January 2022. draken and joel shared the spot for the team’s highest-rated player with a rating of 1.11 over four months, while RuStY had an average rating of 1.01 during the same period.

Despite their individual rating, GODSENT have recorded subpar results since the start of the year. The squad’s highest achievement this year was in the Thunderpick Bitcoin Series 2, where they finished in third place.

GODSENT also secured a top-four place in the BetBoom Playlist Urbanistic 2023. They were eliminated after losing to Cloud9 but recorded victories over teams like BIG, HEET, and Sprout.

GODSENT have not been able to attend any LAN tournaments this year as they were eliminated from the BLAST.tv Paris Major Europe RMR Open qualifiers. The team also failed to compete in the Electronic Sports League Challenger Katowice.

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The news marks the end of Joel’s five-month stint with the Swedish organization. GODSENT’s coach, Maikil “?Golden?” Selim, will take his place in upcoming events until the team decides on a more permanent solution.

“As of Monday this week Joel has been benched from the main roster. For the time being the team will play with Golden as a stand-in during ongoing and future tournaments,” GODSENT wrote.

While GODSENT did not state the reason for the move, the organization promised to inform fans of new changes in the future.

GODSENT currently includes Erik “ztr?” Gustafsson, Alfred “RuStY” Karlsson, William “draken” Sundin, Nicolas “Plopski” Gonzalez Zamora, and Golden as the substitute.

As of Monday this week Joel has been benched from the main roster. For the time being the team will play with Golden as a stand-in during ongoing and future tournaments.

We will release more information in due course. #godmode pic.twitter.com/BKhmSYZ3TM

— GODSENT (@GODSENT) May 26, 2023

joel joined GODSENT at the beginning of the season and has consistently put out impressive numbers during events. He was their highest-rated player this year, with a 1.11 average rating across 119 maps.

The player recorded his best performance in the BetBoom Playlist Urbanistic 2023, reaching a 1.41 rating. The team finished top four in the event following victories over teams like Sprout, BIG, and HEET. joel also recorded an impressive score during the semi-final game against Cloud9, with a 1.33 rating and a 100 ADR.

GODSENT placed third in the Thunderpick Bitcoin Series 2 but were unable to reach the final stages of the online events they competed in. The team also failed to qualify for high-profile LAN events after being eliminated in the qualifiers.

GODSENT failed out of the open RMR qualifiers and were recently eliminated from the Intel Extreme Masters Dallas and ESL Challenger Katowice closed qualifiers. The Swedish team have also continued to hover outside the top 40 in CS:GO world rankings.

GODSENT’s new changes will come into effect during their closed qualifiers run to secure a spot in the ESL Challenger Katowice 2023.

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Eternal Fire have recently finished their BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023: European RMR B campaign in 14th place, thus missed out on qualifying for the Paris Major. Their sole victory in the event came against the struggling Astralis (16-4); however, despite losing the remaining three bouts, it’s not fair to criticise the Turkish CS:GO squad too much.

At the RMR, EF had to face Ninjas in Pyjamas (11-16), Cloud9 (16-19), and Aurora Gaming (1-2), which are all solid teams. So even though Eternal Fire went 1-3, those losses aren’t that concerning.

Apeks got back on their feet after a poor stretch of results in March with a runner-up finish at CCT West Europe Series #2; however, they’ve since failed to achieve much. The international roster performed well at RMR A, where they placed sixth with a 3-2 record; however, Apeks only had to defeat GamerLegion, Sprout, and B8.

So as much as we can praise Apeks for qualifying for the Major, they haven’t shown much more than EF. Regardless of Eternal Fire’s lack of success at recent tournaments, they’re just as strong as Apeks and have a realistic chance to win or, at the very least, force a close series.

PaiN Gaming and Into the Breach have never clashed before, but according to the latest CS:GO betting odds, the Brazilian should have a better chance of winning their debut meeting.

Since the start of April, paiN Gaming have placed second at BLAST Premier: Spring American Showdown 2023 and BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023: American RMR, to which they added a semifinal run at ESEA Cash Cup Circuit 2023: North American Cup #4. In contrast, ITB’s only notable achievement of the year was finishing European RMR A in third place.

Yet, ITB finishing third at the RMR with wins against Sprout (16-7), Virtus.pro (16-13), and B8 (2-1) means more than paiN Gaming placing second at their regional RMR, where they won only against Paqueta Gaming, Complexity, and Fluxo.

Talent-wise paiN Gaming and ITB look evenly matched, and there isn’t much to separate them based on their recent showings. This looks like a coin-flip match, so we have to take Into the Breach at plus money.

OG have been struggling to find traction this season, and while they have had some moments of greatness, the international squad have yet to win a tournament. Last week, OG attended Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2023, when they reached the final round of Group B lower bracket and lost against the eventual champions, Team Vitality (1-2).

So even though their placement (seventh-eighth) doesn’t look good on paper, OG played well but once again found themselves in a position where they got close to achieving great things only to slip at the final hurdle.

Now, OG will face GODSENT, who they last met three weeks ago at Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2023: European Qualifier and won (14-16, 16-4, 16-11). That match should be a good indication of what will happen on Wednesday, but we don’t expect GODSENT to collect a single map this time.

OG would’ve won 2-0 at the start of April had they not made a few misplays on Inferno. At the offered CS:GO betting odds, we like OG to win in two maps.

BIG came two series away from qualifying for the Paris Major but lost the European RMR Decider against Cloud9 (12-16, 13-16) after finishing RMR B in 10th place. But despite their underwhelming performance at the RMR, BIG found traction at Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2023, where they defeated MOUZ (16-6), and Heroic (2-1), before getting eliminated from the quarterfinals by the eventual champions, Team Vitality (0-2).

Their next opponent, 00 Nation, recently placed second at Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2023: South American Qualifier, marking their most notable result of 2023. But that doesn’t detract from their underwhelming performances at ESL Pro League Season 17 and BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023: American RMR, where they placed 13th-16th.

On a more positive note, 00 Nation had their moment at ESL Pro League, where they defeated Ninjas in Pyjamas (2-1) and stole a map from Natus Vincere (1-2).

BIG dropped the ball at the RMR and IEM Rio, but they had to play some of the world’s top teams and still performed relatively well. However, the morale can’t be high in the German camp, so we prefer 00 Nation with a map advantage.

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The franchise announced the formation its new CS:GO roster on its Twitter page with an artwork showing all players with their backs turned in branded clothing bearing their names. The announcement outlined the various roles each player will be occupying in the upcoming season.

The new roster will feature the signing of Erik “ztr” Gustafsson, on loan from Ninjas in Pyjamas’ academy team, as well as AWPers William “draken” Sundin and Joel “joel” Holmlund, and riflers Alfred “RuStY” Karlsson and Nicolas “Plopski” Gonzales Zamora. The team will be led by experienced coach, Maikil “Golden” Selim, who was a former in-game leader for Fnatic.

Three of the players, ztr, draken, and Plopski, have previously played for NiP. Plopski was benched by NiP in September 2022 having represented the team for over three years, to make room for Aleksib, while ztr was part of the Young Ninjas since December 2021. Draken played for NiP between 2017 and 2018 and returned briefly in 2019 as a stand-in.

Joel, on the other hand, played under the banner of Monte in 2022 and assisted the franchise in qualifying for the Europe Regional Major Ranking (RMR) for IEM Rio Major, while RuStY has mostly played for tier-two CS:GO teams in Sweden like passions and Red Reserve. Golden, last seen playing for Savage in 2022 having previously stood in for NiP in 2019 and attended the StarLadder Berlin Major with the franchise, has now transitioned to a coaching role.

This marks the return of GODSENT to the CS:GO scene after a hiatus of almost a year. The franchise had been away from CS:GO since June 2022, when they sold the Brazilian trio of former in-game leader Epitacio “TACO” de Melo, Eduardo “dumau” Wolkmer, and Bruno “latto” Rebelatto, as well as three staff members, to 00 Nation. They also released Henrique “HEN1” Teles and sold Joao “felps” Vasconcellos to Fluxo in August, effectively placing the CS:GO franchise on a halt.

The team’s return to Counter-Strike now features an all-Swedish lineup, marking the franchise’s first all-Swedish roster since 2018. The team will begin its journey in 2023 by attending smaller CS:GO tournaments and walking its way up by qualifying for larger ones through qualifiers, as GODSENT does not currently have a spot in ESL Pro League or BLAST Premier.

This is an exciting development for fans of the franchise as well as the CS:GO scene as a whole, as the new roster is filled with experienced and skilled players, who have previously proven themselves in the competitive scene. The team will be led by an experienced in-game leader, ztr, and supported by a coach with a wealth of experience in the game, Golden. Fans are looking forward to seeing the new roster in action and are optimistic that GODSENT can once again become a major player in the CS:GO scene.
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The news was broken on November 13 via a post on the franchise’s official Twitter page. While they led with a 56-second clip portraying his addition to the franchise in a rather vague form, they followed through with a text bearing clarity.

“Godsent is blessed to present Emil ‘Heaton’ Christensen as the new CEO of the organisation,” the announcement read.

“Heaton has become a partner and major shareholder in the company and will work besides its founder Ludwig Sandgren in running the business and spearhead the CSGO division.”

Upon the announcement, HeatoN is expected to commence work on the rebuild of the franchise almost immediately. However, details about his new role and his ownership stake in the franchise are not clear.

The 34-year old also took to Twitter to share the news with his fans, expressing his excitement for the new challenges ahead. He also categorically pledged to make the Swedish esports scene great again.

“I am pleased to announce my next step in the esports,” HeatoN tweeted.

“From today, I am becoming a major share holder & CEO of the @GODSENT

Let’s make Swedish scene great again!”

Owing to his decades of experiences and relevance on the CS:GO, HeatoN has over a while positioned himself as one of the most well-known players in the CS:GO esports scene. He has also grown into an influential figure in Sweden.

His days as a professional player saw him star for the SK Gaming roster and Ninjas in Pyjamas (2000–2007). In that time, he won several titles and led a successful playing career before delving into coaching.

By the later end of 2007, he transitioned into the coach of NiP for a brief stint and returned as a manager in 2012. In his reunion with the NiP, he led the team to 77 consecutive LAN wins and remained with the franchise for six years. His impact on the esports industry saw him rewarded at ESL One: Cologne 2016 as the first person to be inducted into the Esports Hall of Fame.

He was crucial to the revival of the Ninjas in Pyjamas after the franchise had undergone some dark spells. While he has spent most of his years in the esports scene, HeatoN has also delved into the betting industry. He also worked with hardware brand SteelSeries as the company’s event manager.

Poised to grow the Swedish esports scene, HeatoN returns to lead another Swedish esports franchise to success. His return to esports as the CEO of GODSENT, will see him build the franchise from the ground up.

GODSENT were founded in 2016 by former Fnatic star Markus ‘pronax’ Wallsten and a Spanish entrepreneur, Tomas Oropesa Martin. The organization have quite a number of esports titles under their belt, including League of Legends, Apex Legends, Call of Duty, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Valorant, Dota 2, Fortnite, PUBG, and Rainbox Six.

However, the franchise are best known for their CS:GO team and are famous for the 2016 signing of top Fnatic players: Jesper “JW” Wecksell, Robin “flusha” R?nnquist, and Freddy “KRIMZ” Johansson. Another notable activity was the signing of a Brazilian roster in 2021 that included Epitácio “TACO” de Melo and more recently Henrique “HEN1” Teles.

The franchise have parted ways with their CS:GO roster, with the announcement of HeatoN suggesting a positive rebuild in the coming weeks. The organization also fields female teams in CS:GO and, more recently, Valorant.

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NATUS VINCERE vs GODSENT CS:GO BETTING & MATCH DETAILS

NATUS VINCERE vs GODSENT ESL PRO LEAGUE SEASON 12 BETTING PREVIEW

The European division of ESL Pro League Season 12 kicks off on Tuesday as CIS juggernauts Natus Vincere and Swedish up-and-comers GODSENT clash for the first time in over six months.

Natus Vincere endured a disappointing run through ESL One Cologne 2020 Online Europe, where they finished in ninth-12th place after losing 0-2 to both Complexity Gaming in the upper bracket finals and Ninjas in Pyjamas in the last round of the lower bracket.

Those lacklustre performances were no shock, as the Ukrainian side have not performed well since the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive esports scene transitioned to online play earlier this year. Since winning the Intel Extreme Masters XIV World Championship, NaVi’s only notable results came in May and June when they beat ordinary opposition to claim gold at Gamers Without Borders and WePlay! Clutch Island.

In S-Tier tournaments, however, Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov and co. have failed to deliver, finishing fourth in ESL Pro League Season 11, DreamHack Masters Spring 2020 Europe and the BLAST Premier Spring 2020 European Finals. Nevertheless, NaVi have consistently performed well against second-tier opponents, which could work in their favour when they face the no.17 team in the world.

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GODSENT did not participate at ESL One Cologne and were last seen playing during cs_summit 6 Online Europe back in July, when they put together a solid run to finish fifth. Noteworthy results in that event include 2-0 sweeps of mousesports, G2 Esports and Ninjas in Pyjamas, as well as a 2-1 win against Fnatic.

Even though they did not win any silverware, Kevin “kRYSTAL” Amend and his team showed at cs_summit 6 that they can compete with best CS:GO esports teams in the world. However, losses to BIG (0-2) and OG (1-2) also highlighted their inconsistency.

There are some big concerns about how well GODSENT have prepared for their clash with NaVi. The fact they haven’t played a single competitive match in almost two months suggests they will be a bit ring rusty, which is not a good sign when faced with a heavily favoured opponent.

NATUS VINCERE vs GODSENT ESL PRO LEAGUE SEASON 12 BETTING PREDICTIONS

While both these teams have a 3-2 record from their last five games, GODSENT’s results happened way back in July. It’s also worth noting that NaVi have won four of their last five maps against GODSENT.

The respective map pools make for interesting reading. GODSENT hold better records on Overpass (60%-50%), Nuke (75%-57%) and Dust II (50%-33%), whereas NaVi have significant advantages on Mirage (57%-0%), Inferno (67%-33%) and Train (71%-50%).

While NaVi’s average player rating of 1.06 is only marginally better than GODSENT’s 1.052, we have to again consider that the latter team’s core lineup has not played any maps for a very long time.

GODSENT will need to outperform themselves to walk away from this match with a win. Having said that, NaVi are notorious for poor results in the early stages of CS:GO tournaments. It may well go to three maps, but the favourites should do enough to win it.

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• CSGO betting odds: Spirit $1.49 at GG Bet | GOD $2.43 at GG Bet
• CSGO betting lines: Spirit – 1.5 at $2.07 | GOD +1.5 at $1.68
• When: January 14, 2020 at 15:00 CET
• Watch live: Twitch

TEAM SPIRIT VS GODSENT CSGO SECTOR: MOSTBET FINALS BETTING PREVIEW

SECTOR: MOSTBET will come to a close this Tuesday with a title fight between GODSENT and Team Spirit, who have already met twice over the course of the tournament.

GODSENT (previously SMASH Esports) started their SECTOR:MOSTBET venture in Group D, where they were paired with Team Spirit, Natus Vincere Junior and HellRaisers.

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In the opening match, GOD made easy work of HR, who stood no chance against the European mix as they lost 0-2. About two weeks later, GOD reverse swept Team Spirit to secure the first seed and direct promotion into the final eight.

In the playoffs, GOD defeated ex-Windigo Gaming (2-0) and Nemiga (2-1) to pave their way into the upper bracket finals. There they reunited with Team Spirit, who avenged their defeat from the group stage and sent GOD into the lower bracket. There, they completely outclassed HAVU and punched their ticket for the grand finals.

Since their last meeting with Spirit, GOD made a dash to the DreamHack Open Sevilla playoffs by defeating Gambit Youngsters (2-1) and Illuminar Gaming (2-1). They could not make it past the semi-finals, however, suffering a reverse sweep against CR4ZY.

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Team Spirit fought their way into the SECTOR: MOSTBET finals by defeating NaVi Junior twice in Group D, to which they added a 2-1 win over ARCY and a 2-0 win over HAVU before they bested GODSENT in the upper bracket finals.

Since their last meeting with GOD, which took place back in December, Spirit participated in the ESEA Season 32: Global Challenge and Champions Cup Finals with varying degrees of success.

SEE ALSO: LATEST ESPORTS BETTING PREDICTIONS

At ESEA they defeated Riot Squad Esports 16-4 but lost to forZe 14-16 and failed to repeat their success against Riot in the decider match, going down 1-2 to finish the tournament in the fifth-sixth place.

Spirit put up a significantly better performance at the Champions Cup, where they bested BIG 2-1 and Hard Legion Esports 2-0 to secure a playoff spot. There, they defeated FURIA 2-0 but fell 0-2 against G2 Esports in the grand finals.

Neither of these teams have made any roster changes in recent months. Spirit’s most recent reshuffle came in September when they signed Nikolay “mir” Bityukov and Boris “magixx” Vorobiev. GOD have made no changes since November when they signed the entire SMASH Esports roster.

SPIRIT VS GODSENT SECTOR:MOSTBET FINAL PREDICTIONS

Spirit enter this match as the favourites. While we can understand the reasoning behind that, we cannot agree with the odds on offer at the top CS:GO betting sites.

Both teams are 3-2 in their last five fixtures, but it’s safe to say Spirit faced tougher opponents. While GOD defeated GambitY, Illuminar and HAVU, Spirit defeated BIG, HL and FURIA.

That said, GOD are not given the credit they deserve. They might have played weaker teams and stumbled once every so often, but we cannot understand why they are priced as high as $2.43.

GOD (then SMASH) defeated Spirit in the SECTOR:MOSTBET group stage very convincingly and had a legitimate chance of defeating Spirit in their playoffs, so their chances of winning should not be completely ignored here.

The teams have similar map pools, meaning we could see Overpass and Dust II as per their last meeting. The thing to notice here is that GOD came close to winning on Overpass (13-16), which is Spirit’s best map, while Spirit did not see the same success on Dust II (7-16), which is GOD’s best map.

The two teams seem to match up well, which should result in a close bout. If GOD get off to a strong start, they should be able to push Spirit to their limits and possibly even hoist the trophy.

Thus, we have two predictions for this match:

Over 4.5 maps – $2.49 at GG Bet
GODSENT to win – $2.43 at GG Bet

The post Team Spirit vs GODSENT betting tips – SECTOR: MOSTBET finals appeared first on Esport Bet.