A Ukrainian cyberfootball player has been convicted of throwing ESports Battle Football matches, the round-the-clock tournament series produced by betting content provider BETER. The case tests a model in which one company runs the events, prices the betting on them and monitors them.
According to Censor.net, citing Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office, Serhii Kryvenko belonged to a six-person group that bet on predetermined results of ESports Battle Football matches played on FIFA, at legal and illegal bookmakers. Prosecutors said Kryvenko took part in four fixed matches and received a total of $8,976. He pleaded guilty under a plea agreement and was sentenced in July to two years of restricted liberty, suspended on probation.
A second case involves three members of a group accused of fixing cyberfootball matches in 2022 and 2023, according to RegioNews, which reported that the Prosecutor General's Office sent an indictment to court. Prosecutors did not name the competition in that case. The authorities have not linked Kryvenko to the indictment.
Nothing in either case alleges wrongdoing by BETER or ESportsBattle. The fixed matches took place more than two years before BETER received the Esports Integrity Commission's (ESIC) Gold Standard in June 2025, after an on-site audit.
ESIC told The Esports Advocate that the structure "creates integrity risks and potential conflicts requiring external scrutiny." The spokesperson said that "internal monitoring alone is insufficient to demonstrate compliance." ESIC said BETER "has continued to meet the Gold Standard requirements" and that Gold Standard holders are reviewed annually.
BETER did not respond to a request for comment. The Esports Advocate said it would update the article if the company responds.