Rocket League Players Banned Due to Throwing RLCS Match

Two Australian players have been banned from all Rocket League tournaments for a year. The reason? Throwing a Rocket League Championship Series match with hug implications on the league’s playoffs. The investigation took around three days to complete, but now that all of the evidence is in, the ruling is official.

The incident as it happened

Team Esper’s Aiden “delusioN” Hendry and Finlay “Frenzyy” Rockach are both banned for one full year. Meanwhile, their teammate Steve “SSteve” Berrospi avoided a ban due to what was turned up by the investigation.

During the match in question, Team Esper faced off against Fury in the RLOC during the final game of League Play. This match had massive playoffs implications. A 3-0 or 3-1 win would secure playoffs for Esport, while any form of win regardless of points would have sent Fury into the top four. If Esper won 3-2, then the fringe team Renegades would have progressed.

The series progressed to 2-2, which effectively squashed Esper’s chances of making the playoffs. Game five was their last chance to redeem the team. But from the offset, it quickly became apparent that something strange was happening. Even the casters quickly pointed things out after the very first kickoff.

After the Esper players appeared to avoid the ball, one caster noted, “It might be that Team Esper just don’t want Renegades in playoffs. It’s looking like they’re giving the win to Fury. I’m not sure if this is allowed. Someone’s going to have to have words with them.” It looks like exactly that ended up happening, too.

After the match

Upon the conclusion of the game, the squad was dropped by Team Esper. The players, especially delusioN and Frenzyy, received significant criticism over how the match went. SSteve attempted to distance himself from his teammates, putting out a statement saying he “didn’t throw.”

In the end, Frenzyy and delusioN were sanctioned under section 7.2.1 of the Rocket League Championship Series Player Code of Conduct. This clause upholds “competitive integrity” and sets forward expectations that every player is expected to maintain.

Their ban is expected to be lifted April 7, 2021.

Ryan Goodrich

Ryan has been writing since long before he could even write. He's written resumes, software user guides, consumer electronic reviews, and myriad web content spanning a variety of industries. But now he's writing about video games, which is much more interesting.

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