ESIC has banned Vintage and DarkMago: details of the charges

The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) has imposed sanctions against former members of the PlayTime roster: Juan David Vintage Angulo Nicho and Oswaldo DarkMago Herrera Martinez. They had previously been temporarily suspended from competition following an incident at the Esports World Cup 2026.

Vintage received a lifetime ban for violating five articles of the ESIC anti-corruption code and an article of the ESIC Code of Conduct. He was found guilty of manipulating the result of the match between PlayTime and Team Liquid at EWC 2026, agreeing to accept a bribe for this manipulation, persuading another player to participate in match-fixing, refusing to cooperate with the investigation, as well as concealing corruption and violating the principles of integrity.

ESIC representatives noted that the planned 0–2 result in the PlayTime — Team Liquid series was not achieved, and the fact that a bribe was paid to Vintage has not been confirmed. However, the commission has sufficient other evidence to impose sanctions.

During the investigation, the commission examined participant and staff interviews, contemporaneous communications, internal team material, participant responses, tournament records, gameplay and draft observations, device and financial information where produced, and multi-source betting intelligence.

DarkMago violated the principles of integrity by concealing facts or circumstances indicative of corruption, as well as an offer to participate in match-fixing. He has been suspended from competition for 5 years and will be eligible to return to the pro scene in July 2031. By that time, he will be 32 years old.

The ESIC statement notes that both players retain the right to appeal to the International Games and Esports Tribunal (IGET) in accordance with the appeal process notified to them (IGET — an independent, nonprofit dispute resolution body for the video game and esports industries).

As a reminder, the ESIC has not yet issued a final ruling on the match-fixing allegations against Santiago TaiLung Agüero Gustavo. The player was suspended following an internal investigation by LGD Gaming and also received a lifetime ban from PGL tournaments.

As CyberScore previously reported, TaiLung shared his version of the events that led to his suspension from The International 2026.