After a betting scandal in the Counter Strike Global Offensive eSports scene exposed a web that touched a number of pro teams in the community, Valve have reinforced their policy regarding betting for professional players, team managers and event production staff.

Teams and all involved are not to be seen betting, associating with people involved with the betting or in any way aiding the use of “inside information” to bet against teams, and if you’re proven to have done so you face being banned for events Valve are involved with in some way, whether they’ve organised it or merely sponsored it. Valve have seen the CS:GO scene grow rapidly in recent times and with it the growth of betting for tournaments, including the third-party tournaments – some of which Valve sponsor.

On the Valve blog the new rules were spoken about, saying that fixed betting carried the risk of damaging the personal brands and identity of teams, and even reflected bad on the community as a whole.

“We frequently sponsor third-party events to add to their entertainment value for viewers and broaden the audience for competitive CS:GO. To be eligible to participate in a Valve-sponsored event, players are required to follow the rules provided by that event’s organizers. Professional players, teams, and anyone involved in the production of CS:GO events, should under no circumstances gamble on CS:GO matches, associate with high volume CS:GO gamblers, or deliver information to others that might influence their CS:GO bets.”

The failure to follow these rules will lead to a likely exclusion from future Valve events and ones they are involved with through sponsorship. “Performing before an audience of millions of fans, you are ambassadors for your game.”