CIS teams asks Valve to investigate Akuma cheating allegations in open letter

Despite being the first CIS CS:GO RMR event of the season, giving teams from the region a shot at qualifying for the Stockholm Major, the EPIC League CIS Spring 2021 has a dark cloud hanging over it - the Akuma cheating allegations. With several members of the community, including professional players, talking about the distinct possibility Akuma was cheating during EPIC League CIS Spring 2021, the discussion is still ongoing. Now, 15 teams have signed an "open letter" to Valve to investigate the Akuma cheating allegations.

CIS teams call on Valve to investigate Akuma

First off, Epic Esports Events and the Russian Esports Federation (RESF) were the organizers of EPIC League CIS 2021.

Despite many allegations of Akuma cheating, the RESF released a statement recently, noted how an internal investigation showed no signs of foul play.

The RESF states: "During the internal and external investigations, a large amount of information was collected about the actions of Akuma, the work of GOTV and the line administration of the tournament. The analysis of this information did not reveal any evidence of compromising the administration of the tournament and the work of GOTV. A review of Akuma players, their hardware and software revealed no signs of foul play."

(Picture: RESF via TwitLonger)

Now, on 3rd June 2021, an open letter to Valve calls for an investigation, as the teams involved in the tournament suspect that Akuma cheated by "live data from third parties on external devices in order to gain the unfair advantage of seeing opponents’ positions on the map at all times."

The letter was first published on HLTV.org and explains the complicated matter.

The letter further asks Valve to: "involve ESIC or any other competent authority not only to conduct a full investigation into Akuma, but also to lay out protocols to ensure that this scenario will not occur again in the future. If the legitimacy of Akuma’s actions is confirmed, this will also help their players by minimizing any pressure that they might face from the community in future tournaments."

Akuma had some shocking results at EPIC League CIS 2021 (Picture: EPIC League)

Only Akuma and ex-Marlian of all the teams involved in the EPIC League CIS tournament have not signed the Open Letter to Valve.

Teams who have signed are:

• 100PG
• 1WIN
• bankaPepsi
• Entropiq
• forZe
• Gambit
• Grond
• IN.GAME
• K23
• Na'Vi
• Nemiga
• Team Spirit
• Team Unique
• Trident
• Virtus.pro

Keep in mind this CIS RMR event was played without any anti-cheat, and the tournament organizer did not record teams' communications. Essentially, this means it is very difficult to determine if Akuma actually cheated or not.

Some of the moments of alleged cheating can be viewed in this video compilation.

This is a developing story and we will keep you updated if or when more information becomes available. At the time of writing, Valve has not officially responded to the Open Letter from the CIS teams, and it remains to be seen if further, official investigations will be conducted into the Akuma cheating ordeal.

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