Twelve people in North Korea have been accused with allegations of match fixing charges. These include players like YoDa (Choi Byeong-Heon) and BBoongBBong (Choi Jong-Huk) and also Gerrard (Park Wae-Sik), team Prime’s head coach.

An investigation by the South Korean authorities revealed that five professional matches have been fixed this year. All of the fixed matches took place in GSL and Proleague between January and June. Brokers and financial backers have also been arrested, which includes former professional gamer and esports journalist Enough (Seong Jun-mo). Seong acted as a broker, Team Liquid revealed in the official website.

Gerrard, the coach of team Prime, faced charges for acting as a middleman between players and brokers. An unnamed broker paid AU$6,111 to BBoongBBong through Gerrard to lose a Proleague match. On the other hand, YoDa received AU$41,203 for losing two matches. He was furthermore blackmailed into fixing two more matches, reported PCGamer.

In total, YoDa, has been charged with manipulating four matches that he played in. The matches were played in a variety of tournaments which include Proleague, GSL Code A and GSL Code S. He dealt with brokers directly on some occasions and through Gerrard on the other few.

Earlier this year, it was speculated that Gerrard was in financial trouble and might be the reason why the team Prime coach resorted to such extreme measures. The Starcraft pro scene has been filled with match-fixing problems in recent times. An e-sports player named Wong ‘Justin’ Jong Seo was fined AU$3,708 and sentenced to 120 hours of community service. The Korean e-Sports Association (Kespa) has already banned Gerrard and YoDa for life and has promised to take strict legal measures against the accused.

"StarCraft 2"- Team Prime vs Team Liquid (YouTube/CrotaGaming)

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