MPL Singapore disqualify Everlasting Luv from Playoffs for match-fixing

Three Everlasting Luv players were found responsible for the incident and have been suspended for two seasons.

The Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League (MPL) Singapore announced on Wednesday (5 June) that they have disqualified Everlasting Luv (EVL) from the MPL Singapore Season 9 Playoffs for match-fixing.

In a post on the league's official social media accounts, MPL Singapore revealed that they found EVL exhibited suspicious gameplay during their match against Sovereign SG during Week 3, Day 2 of the MPL Singapore Season 9 Regular Season. With concerns about EVL's intent and conduct raised, MPL Singapore launched an internal investigation and conducted individual interviews with the team's players.

MPL Singapore found that EVL players Akashi , Kyushu, and WILLYYY provided explanations that were “inconsistent with their in-game actions and team communications, and were further contradicted by backend data, revealing clear discrepancies in their accounts.”

As such, MPL Singapore disqualified EVL from the MPL Singapore Season 9 Playoffs, which the team previously qualified for by winning the Last Chance Qualifier. In addition, the team have also been barred from participating in the league for an additional two seasons.

Akashi , Kyushu, and WILLYYY were also suspended for two seasons for being responsible for compromising the match, and providing the league with misleading information during its investigation.

“Following a comprehensive review, EVL and the aforementioned players were found to have failed to uphold the standards of competitive integrity expected of all participants in MPL Singapore. Under the MPL SG Penalty Index, EVL has been found to have compromised the competitive integrity of the league by intentionally losing a match,” MPL Singapore said in a statement.

"As the nation's only professional esports league, MPL Singapore upholds the highest standards of competitive integrity. We take all breaches of fair play seriously and will enforce strict penalties to ensure a level playing field for all teams and players. This decision reflects our commitment to maintaining a fair, transparent, and professional esports environment in Singapore."

Esports match-fixing continues to plague Singapore
EVL's attempted match-fixing and subsequent disqualification from MPL Singapore is only the latest incident of a long-running issue that has plagued the Singaporean esports scene for years now.

In 2021, two VALORANT esports scene in Singapore was rocked by scandal when two players were found guilty of match-fixing and subsequently banned from the VALORANT Champions Tour for three years, as reported by Yahoo Esports SEA. Those two players, Malcolm “Germsg” Chung and Ryan “Dreamycsgo” Tan, were then charged with corruption and unlawful remote gambling by Singapore's Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau over a year later.

In 2023, Dreamycsgo pled guilty to one count of corruption while Germsg was jailed for four months and paid a SG$400 fine after pleading guilty one count of corruption, receiving gratification under the Prevention of Corruption Act. It was also found that Dreamycsgo owed Germsg SG$400 but could not repay it, leading to the former suggesting a scheme to the latter, where they would bet on their team to lose and then intentionally throw the match.