TL;DR
- Team Queso officially dropped its CS:GO roster following LVP’s investigation into deliberate match-throwing
- Players received seven-match bans for intentionally losing to Tenerife Titans to manipulate playoff bracket positioning
- Unlike traditional match-fixing for financial gain, this case involved strategic tournament manipulation
- The scandal draws parallels to Olympic sports integrity violations while contrasting with gambling-related esports scandals
- Sanctions apply only to LVP competitions, leaving players’ futures in other leagues uncertain

Spain’s competitive Counter-Strike: Global Offensive landscape experienced a significant shakeup as one of its premier teams faced dissolution.
Team Queso made the decisive move to release its entire CS:GO lineup following an official organizational statement that cited evidence of intentional match manipulation during the Liga de Videojuegos Profesional Superliga 2019 tournament.
“Following comprehensive evidence review and investigation closure regarding the Superliga Orange CS:GO match between Team Queso and Tenerife Titans on May 14th, LVP confirmed the squad purposefully lost the encounter, breaching competition conduct standards and compromising event integrity through unsportsmanlike actions,” the organization declared in their public release.
Consequences included individual seven-match suspensions for each competitor, effectively eliminating Queso from playoff contention and demonstrating the serious repercussions of competitive integrity violations in professional gaming.
While financial incentives typically drive esports match-fixing schemes, Queso’s situation presented a different competitive dynamic. The team allegedly engineered their defeat against Tenerife Titans specifically to influence playoff opponent selection.
Having already secured postseason qualification, Queso strategically sought to circumvent an initial round confrontation with Giants Gaming. Considered tournament favorites, the Portuguese squad’s competitive strength motivated Queso’s tactical losses to position themselves in the opposite bracket segment.
Player Peter “Shhhack” Belej publicly affirmed via Twitter that no monetary benefits resulted from the match outcome, distinguishing this case from traditional corruption scenarios.
This strategic manipulation approach reveals how competitive gaming integrity faces unique threats beyond simple financial corruption, requiring sophisticated detection methods and clear ethical guidelines for professional competitors.
The competitive integrity breach bears resemblance to a 2012 Olympic women’s volleyball controversy where Japan’s team faced allegations of deliberately losing to Serbia to secure placement in a less challenging group.
Queso’s allegations diverge significantly from recent League of Legends match-fixing incidents that involved direct wagering connections. In April, multiple organizations faced disciplinary actions for throwing matches while placing bets against their own teams, resulting in player suspensions and organizational sanctions.
This distinction highlights the evolving nature of competitive integrity threats in esports, where both financial corruption and strategic manipulation present serious challenges to tournament legitimacy and fair competition standards across different gaming titles.
Team Queso confirmed it would not challenge Liga de Videojuegos Profesional’s ruling, though the organization remained silent regarding future CS:GO competitive plans.
The affected players face uncertain competitive futures with their LVP-specific suspensions not extending to other competitive circuits. No information indicates Valve has imposed additional sanctions, leaving potential participation in international competitions as an open question for the disciplined competitors.
This case establishes important precedent for how regional leagues handle competitive integrity violations and whether cross-league enforcement becomes necessary to maintain esports credibility globally. The situation underscores the need for standardized ethical frameworks across competitive gaming organizations.
Action Checklist
- Review and understand your league’s specific code of conduct and anti-match manipulation policies
- Implement team internal monitoring systems to detect unusual competitive patterns
- Establish clear communication protocols for reporting integrity concerns to tournament organizers
- Document strategic decisions that could be misinterpreted as match manipulation
No reproduction without permission:Games Guides Website » Spanish organization cuts CS:GO team after match fixing scandal Spanish esports organization terminates CS:GO team following competitive integrity violations and match manipulation investigation
