The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) has concluded its first-instance disciplinary proceedings regarding the Esports World Cup 2026 (EWC 26) Dota 2 tournament, issuing a lifetime ban to Juan “Vintage” Angulo and a five-year suspension to Oswaldo “DarkMago” Herrera.

The sanctions follow an investigation into attempted match manipulation by participants representing the South American roster PTime (formerly PlayTime) during the event in Paris.

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The investigation was initiated on 13 July 2026 after ESIC received reports of a corrupt approach to alter competitive performance. Following provisional suspensions that forced PTime’s disqualification from EWC 26, ESIC said it evaluated participant interviews, contemporaneous messages, device data, and multi-source betting intelligence.

ESIC found all six charges proven against Vintage, who served as the team’s sporting director and coach. The ruling established that Vintage entered into an agreement to manipulate PTime’s series against Team Liquid to a 0–2 loss in exchange for financial reward, solicited another participant, and failed to disclose reportable integrity information or cooperate with investigators. Although the intended 0–2 result was not realised and completed payment was not proven, ESIC ruled that the attempt, agreement, and failure to report constituted severe breaches of the Anti-Corruption Code, making Vintage ineligible for life.

Conversely, active match-manipulation charges against mid-laner DarkMago were dropped. ESIC sanctioned DarkMago with a five-year ban, running until 13 July 2031, for failing to disclose a direct corrupt approach and failing to report communications evidencing corrupt conduct. Both individuals retain the right to appeal to the International Games and Esports Tribunal (IGET).

The formal sanctions point to alleged growing structural vulnerabilities within the South American Dota 2 competitive pipeline. In an open letter to the community following the ruling, Brazilian Dota 2 coach Igor “kaffs” Estevão said that match-fixing has reached systemic levels across the region, noting that third-party betting actors frequently target young talent upon entering tier-3 teams.

ESIC recently also suspended Peruvian player Santiago “TaiLung” Agüero Gustavo amid match-fixing allegations (a ruling the player actively contests). Outside of South America, Russian player Alexandr “Sensibility” Filatov received a lifetime ban in April this year after being found guilty of corruption-related offenses.

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