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CS: GO (Counterstrike Global Offensive) is an FPS game with a flourishing esports scene. The game has experienced a massive increase in its player base since Valve made it free-to-play towards the end of 2018.
However, like most games, CS: GO has been plagued by a few issues, the most prominent one of them being hacking. It has plagued the community of Counterstrike since the title's inception and does not seem to end any time soon.
The problem of hacking is present even in the professional platform of CS. Most professional CS: GO players are role models for their fans, but a few of them have treaded down a dark path. On that note, this article provides the names of five professional CS players who were caught cheating and were subsequently banned from the game.
Five professional CS: GO players who were caught cheating and were subsequently banned from the game:
#1: Gordon "Sf" Giry
Gordon Giry, famously known as Sf, is a former French professional CS: GO, player. He played for Epsilon eSports as a rifler.
On 20 November 2014, Sf was given a VAC ban by Valve, and they disqualified him from DreamHack Winter 2014. Later, he was kicked out from the team, and his professional career was over.
#2: Joel “Emilio” Mako
Former Swedish professional player, Emilio, played for Team Property.
On 9 October 2014, Emilio received a VAC ban in a CS game against HellRaisers in the Fragbite Masters III tournament.
A VAC ban message during the game petrified the casters who didn't know how to react to the situation. After confirmation of the same, Team Property was disqualified from the tournament.
Emilio then left the team and could not continue his career as a professional esports player.
#3: Hovik “KQLY” Tovmassian
KQLY is a French retired professional player who played as a secondary AWPer for Titan eSports and other famous teams like Team LDLC.
He received a VAC ban from CS Global Offensive during his time at LDLC. Previously he had played brilliantly, landing some outrageous shots in ESL One Cologne. One of his most notable shots was his jump shot on Pasha in Dust 2.
Following a series of other bans, KQLY was evicted from Titan eSports. He formed a professional team named eFrog, but later left the group and departed from professional CS.
#4: Mikhail "S3mig0d" Lakhvich
S3mig0d is a former Russian professional player who played for eXplosive. He received a VAC ban in July 2013.
After the confirmation of his ban, he and eXplosive were disqualified from CIS Minor Championship 2016, Cologne. He is now inactive as a professional player and barred from playing any of Valve's tournaments.
#5: Nikhil "Forsaken" Kumawat
Former Indian professional player, Forsaken, played as a rifler for OpTic India. His period of success with the team was shortlived though, as the admins caught him hacking during a CS: GO game in the eXTREMESLAND 2018 finals.
He tried to defend himself by deleting the files on the computer during the LAN tournament. Forsaken ended up destroying his career and was the sole reason behind OpTic India's downfall.
Later, ESL found that Forsaken had used similar hacks in the ESL India Premiership 2018 Fall Finals. This resulted in ESIC banning him for five years, adding to the indefinite ban from VAC system that he received during eXTREMESLAND.
