Alleged match-fixing in VALORANT NA tier-two: Riot Games issues statement

The Global Head of VALORANT Esports, Leo Faria, has issued a statement addressing the ongoing concerns around match-fixing, cheating and other competitive integrity issues in Challengers North America.

The announcement followed shortly after Sean Gares uploaded the video titled ‘The Dark Side of Competitive VALORANT’, which called out multiple parties allegedly involved in the scandal.

“We take all allegations extremely seriously and have been collecting information since they were first shared with us in early May. We have also taken proactive steps by engaging our integrity partners at IBIA, Sportradar, GRID, and others, to ensure a comprehensive and robust investigation,” stated Faria on VALORANT Champions Tour’s (VCT) X account.

Leo further confirmed that the VCT team is actively verifying the allegations; however, no concrete evidence is available at the moment.

“Whistleblowers play an important role in situations like this, and while we value and encourage community reports, only evidence-based investigations can lead to action,” he further added.

Riot Games ensured that an update will be provided as soon as a decision is taken and urged anyone with relevant information to report it to officials.

“If you’re approached with information related to misconduct, we encourage you to report it immediately and directly to league officials or to Riot, and stop engaging, as specified in our Code of Conduct,” the statement concluded.

In the video, Gares — a General Manager for esports organisation Shopify Rebellion — focused particularly on a user named ‘bray‘, who he alleges lured Challengers players into throwing matches in exchange for money. He further revealed that bray was connected to crypto groups run by individuals like Cooker.

Both bray and cooker have denied the allegations:

“I did not do anything. I am not a part of any of this. Stop posting about me,” bray said.

Meanwhile, Cooker tweeted: “I can assure you I do not involve myself with any rigging or anything of that nature.”

The video also presented what Gares believes to be potential evidence against Blue Otter’s players Adam ‘Fair’ Elharoun and Bob ‘Bob’ Tran (now with FlyQuest RED), accusing them of throwing a match against Burger Boys and cheating against Shopify Rebellion.

According to Gares, he is aware of two additional teams involved but has chosen not to name them in order to “protect people.”

In response to the allegations, FlyQuest RED has decided to bench Bob until the investigation concludes.

“We’ve been made aware of accusations of compromised competitive integrity towards one of our VALORANT GC players. We have decided to bench the player and will be using a stand-in until we complete an investigation of the situation,” the organisation announced.

This move has sparked some backlash within the community as Cooper ‘coopertastic’, FlyQuest’s Marvel Rivals player, was not benched after making transphobic and sexist remarks.