NA Challengers Matchfixing Allegations
In response to serious public allegations of cheating, match-fixing, and other misconduct within VALORANT Challengers North America (NA), Riot Games conducted an investigation into the claims and parties named. The investigation was conducted collaboratively by multiple internal Riot departments (League Operations, Esports Compliance, and Anti-Cheat), alongside integrity partners including Sportradar, GRID, and the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA). To date, no evidence of cheating, coordinated manipulation, or betting-related misconduct has been substantiated.
Key Actions and Findings:
Cheating Allegations, Gameplay and Account Review: Riot’s Anti-Cheat and Competitive Operations teams conducted a comprehensive review of gameplay and account data for the match between Blue Otter and Shopify Rebellion, as well as six other referenced matches. This included assessments of Tournament Realm (TR) and live accounts, user behavior logs, and in-game data. No signs of cheating or suspicious activity were found.
Match Integrity and Betting Market Analysis: Riot integrity partners (Sportradar, GRID, and IBIA) reviewed betting markets activities across Stage 1 and Stage 2 games of the 2025 NA Challengers League and no games were flagged as suspicious.
Review of Circulating Bet Slips: Riot’s integrity partners reviewed the betting slip screenshots circulated on social media. One widely shared image was initially alleged to be linked to NA Challengers but based on its content and formatting was determined to reference an unrelated event. While the specific source of the image could not be identified, no suspicious betting patterns were found. As a result, the allegations were deemed not credible.
Clean Feed Protocol Review: Riot’s Broadcast Engineering and Americas Competitive Operations jointly reviewed clean feed access protocols and no evidence of misuse was found. Controls were confirmed to be consistent with industry standards.
Allegations Involving Riot Staff: Claims circulating on social media suggesting Riot employee misconduct were investigated thoroughly under Riot’s internal integrity protocols. These claims were traced back to third-party sources, who later admitted to lacking direct evidence or retracted their statements. Despite multiple attempts to gather information and/or evidence supporting these claims, no evidence or credible information was ever provided. Based on the full investigative review, no misconduct by Riot staff was found.
Additional Due Diligence Measures: Riot undertook a number of additional due diligence measures such as open source intelligence investigations and performance assessments on players and teams named within the allegations, as well as mapping relationship webs. Riot engaged Tournament Organizers and select teams to reinforce reporting obligations and request any relevant information as part of the investigation. These additional efforts yielded no actionable evidence.
Upon conclusion of the review, there was insufficient evidence to substantiate any claims of cheating, coordinated manipulation, or betting-related misconduct by any players, teams, or organizations.
While the investigation was exhaustive, Riot Games will continue to monitor the situation and reserves the right to further examine the matter or take additional action, particularly if new, credible information emerges.
Riot Games is committed to protecting the integrity of our esports competitions. We will continue to work in close partnership with players, teams, Tournament Organizers, and trusted integrity partners to detect, investigate, and deter misconduct at every level of play. Where appropriate, Riot will cooperate with law enforcement agencies and regulatory authorities to support broader investigations.
Reporting Esports Incidents
Maintaining a fair and trustworthy competitive esports environment is a shared responsibility that requires active participation from everyone in the esports ecosystem. Investigations depend on timely, specific, and protected disclosures, and Riot takes every report seriously.
If you are approached to fix a match, share insider information, or participate in any form of illicit behavior:
Do not engage.
Preserve evidence: If you're approached to fix a match via a messaging platform (such as X, WhatsApp, Discord, WeChat etc.), take clear screenshots that include the date, time, usernames, contact details, platform, and enough context to understand the exchange.
Report the incident immediately to your League Operations representative or through Riot’s designated integrity reporting channels.
Whistleblowers play a critical role in protecting fair play and promoting accountability across our esports leagues. Riot Games encourages all members of the esports community to report suspected integrity violations in good faith. At the same time, false, exaggerated, or unfounded accusations can disrupt lives, divert resources from genuine issues, and undermine trust in the integrity process. Furthermore, match-fixing and other forms of integrity-related misconduct may also constitute criminal offenses in many jurisdictions. Such actions can carry serious real-world consequences, criminal prosecution and penalties. Reports should always be based on credible evidence or observations.
To find out more about Riot Games program on combatting match-fixing, click here.
