The Dota 2 team of the esports organisation BetBoom Team has been given a default loss at the Bali Major 2023. It comes after of its players was caught watching the match's live stream during an extended pause.

The ruling was only made after the match's conclusion, as video evidence of the rule infliction came to light. While BetBoom beat the reigning TI champion Tundra Esports in a clean 2-0, the match is now considered a loss, with the Russian organisation being placed in the lower bracket.

Moreover, Ivan "Pure" Moskalenko has been disqualified from the competition for this rule infliction.

The rule infliction

In round 1 of the knockout stages of the Dota 2 Bali Major 2023, BetBoom Team met Tundra esports in the first round of the upper bracket. The match concluded in a clean 2-0 victory for BetBoom after a long break during the match.

Later, a clip surfaced which showed BetBoom's Pure tab in and out of the game's stream. According to the official IO Esports Twitter account, the cited rules that Pure inflicted upon were defined as information abuse derived from an external source.

In these cases, the rulebook contains a "Punishment for Cheating" clause that sees the match result voided and the victory given to the opponent. The ruling resulted in Tundra Esports moving on in the upper bracket, while BetBoom was dropped into the lower side.

Pure has already been replaced by BetBoom

Roman "Resolut1on" Fomynok has been named as Pure's replacement, who subsequently had been disqualified from the competition as per tournament rules.

Criticism was also levelled at the organiser Epulze, with fans expressing their disbelief that this action had not immediately been spotted - despite admins being in the same room as the players. Instead, the ruling only was made after the game.

As a result of the decision, the DPC points accrued from their guaranteed position granted by being in the upper bracket would've been sufficient for BetBoom to clinch qualification for the largest annual Dota 2 tournament, the International. The team is now required to win their next matches with their stand-in, in order to ensure TI participation.