TL;DR
- Level Up Esports used an unregistered player (ringer) in an official game versus Crvena Zvezda Esports during EBL 2020 Spring Split on March 12.
- As a result, Level up Esports, the team owner and the unregistered player are suspended from EBL until June 11th, while the other four rostered players are suspended from EBL until April 11.
CONTEXT:
After receiving reports about using an unregistered player in an official match, the league started an investigation into this matter.
On March 12, league officials were notified by Level Up Esports owner and acting manager, Viktor “Buktop” Knežević, that their starting player was facing a high fever and wouldn’t be able to play the last remaining match of the split. He also requested to be able to use their registered substitute named Milan Kovačević, account name “LVL kravamocna”, which was later confirmed to be a ghost substitute that had no intentions of playing official matches.
The league was able to confirm that an unregistered player was playing on “LVL kravamocna” account in their game versus Crvena Zvezda. The League was also able to identify the unregistered player as Nebojša “Flamy” Krivokapić, aka “Plameni”.
During the investigation, EBL officials approached Level Up’s players, active in that split, to confront them with their findings in an effort to better understand the nature of events leading up to that infraction and to determine each member’s involvement. Players were fully cooperative with league officials and acknowledged this infraction.
Ringing is a serious offense. It misleads opponents who have prepared for the match, it circumvents roster rules meant to create a fair playing field, and it breaks trust with fans, players, and the league itself.
RELEVANT RULES: EBL 2020 Rulebook
10.5 Ringing
10.5.1 Ringing is defined as playing using another Player’s account or solicitation to do so.
8.1. Competitive Integrity
8.1.9. Any other act which violates these rules and/or standards established by the League.
RULING
- Level Up Esports has violated rule 10.5. of the EBL 2020 Spring Split.
- Level Up Esports, their owner and the unregistered player are suspended from EBL until June 11th 2021:
- Viktor Knežević – buktop
- Nebojša Krivokapić – Flamy
- The following players and team staff are suspended from EBL until April 11th 2021:
- Aleksa Majstorović – Nazgul
- Veljko Čamdžić – Velja
- David Jovašević – Dakeey
- Miloš Vukadinović – Bona