Uprise Champions Cup joins Esports Integrity Commission

As a member of ESIC, UCC will look to maintain the integrity of its competitions, as well as feeding into the wider battle against corruption and match manipulation in professional tournaments.

UCC has organised over 700 esports tournmanents, generating upwards of 200m views on streaming platforms such as Azubu, Hitbox and Twitch.

As with all ESIC member tournament operators, UCC will now be bound by ESIC’s Integrity Programme, as well as an obligation to recognise and honour ESIC’s sanctions.

“We are happy to see that UCC has officially become a member of ESIC,” ESIC commissioner Ian Smith said. “UCC’s membership represents its desire to professionalise and join other members of the esports industry in observing ESIC’s integrity programme.

“In doing so, UCC joins the broader fight against bad actors posing threats to competitive integrity in the industry.”

Chief business development officer at UCC Andrei Mikheev added: “UCC is glad to have joined ESIC as a member and will continue to host its esports tournaments based on the principles of fair sports competition.

“UCC is committed to honoring ESIC’s Integrity Program and sanctions and will offer its support to ESIC whenever possible.”

ESIC recently demonstrated its powers, issuing bans of varying length between 4 months and 3 years in September, to over 30 professional Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) coaches found guilty of exploiting the game’s so-called ‘spectator bug’, giving their teams an unfair advantage over competitors.

In October, 7 professional CS:GO players also faced bans of 12 months in length for betting on CS:GO matches, including matches in which they were competing.