Cyclops Athlete Gaming avoid ban after throwing Rainbow Six match

One of APAC’s most prestigious Rainbow Six teams, Cyclops Athlete Gaming, has avoided disqualifications and suspensions after the team was found guilty of throwing a Pro League match to get better seeding.

Cyclops Athlete Gaming were put under the microscope after the team admitted to throwing a Rainbow Six match in the APAC North League to secure better seeding for the November Major.

In their October 22 game against QConfirm, the CAG players intentionally picked off-meta compositions and played below their level. If they lost, they could secure second seed heading into the Major, as Cloud9 would no longer be able to finish above them due to the nature of the Swiss format.

Now, a month later, Ubisoft has finally handed down their judgment on the throw, claiming the team’s “unusual conduct” broke the global ruleset, regardless of whether losing was to their benefit or not.

“Unusual conduct was noticed from players on the Cyclops Athlete Gaming team during their match against QConfirm. Various actions made by their players brought into question the seriousness with which they were playing this league game,” Ubisoft stated.

• Read more: Rainbow Six team admits to throwing match for better Major seed

“The investigation conducted with the help of our partner in the region showed that Cyclops Athlete Gaming acted in a non-competitive manner that strictly goes against the Global Rulebook.”

However, Ubisoft were lenient in their punishments for the throw. They noted that Cyclops acted in their own best interests, and their actions revealed a flaw in the system.

The players themselves managed to escape suspensions, and the organization as a whole will be able to compete in the upcoming Asia-Pacific Major. However, coach Hibiki ‘XQQ’ Motoyama was banned by Ubisoft for six months for admitting to throwing matches on Twitter.

XQQ left his post at Cyclops Athlete Gaming days after the drama, and is now the coach of Absolute Jupiter’s Valorant team. It’s unclear if Riot are going to transfer XQQ’s coaching ban in Rainbow Six to Valorant.

• Read more: How to watch Rainbow Six November 2020 Major

The organization was fined $5,000 USD.

Cyclops Athlete Gaming will also retain their second seed for the November APAC Major. They will play the winner of GUTS Gaming and Cloud9 on November 25.