ATOX Banned from PGL and BLAST CS2 Tournaments By ESIC

Mongolian esports organization ATOX has been disqualified and banned from PGL Counter-Strike events. The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) is investigating the organization. 

Now, they’re unable to play in the Asian closed qualifier for the PGL Bucharest tournament. 

In related Counter-Strike 2 news, Valve, the game's developer, recently changed up their Valve Regional Standings. 

The ATOX Ban

The ban came on Mar. 6, 2025, PGL confirmed. 

They said it was a “provisional suspension from ESIC.” 

Not only is ATOX banned from PGL, but it’s also unable to compete in the BLAST Open Lisbon. 

In their place will be The Huns. 

The ESIC has not yet released details regarding the suspension. 

However, the prominent rumor is that ATOX allegedly participated in match-fixing during Season 20 of the ESL Pro League. 

“ESIC internally stated that the investigation may last for several weeks,” said Chinese Counter-Strike 2 commentator Yunqing ‘Searph‘ Hu on the social media site Bilibili 

“The organizer of the next competition for this team said that they have learned about the ongoing investigation and are ready to prepare a plan for the team to be banned at any time,” he finished.

According to the ESIC website, it “works with esports stakeholders to protect the integrity of esports competition.”

Earlier this month, the ESIC banned Ilya “Ganginho” Chernychenko for three years due to violations of betting and corruption rules. 

Where Does ATOX Go From Here? 

With limited details, it’s hard to know when ATOX will play again. Chernychenko was suspended for three years, so it’s possible ATOX could see a multi-year ban. 

If that happens, it will be quite some time before they can compete in high-level Counter-Strike tournaments. 

We know they’re unable to play in upcoming PGL and Blast tournaments. 

Now we wait to see what’ll come next. 

Fans React to the Ban

On Reddit, esports fans have been reacting to the news of ATOX’s ban. 

“On one hand I really dislike how bettors say every match is fixed. On the other one I'm sure if we knew half of all the fixes that are made the whole scene would crumble,” one user wrote. 

“It is possible that they threw their game against FURIA for 2:0 loss. Odds on -1.5 handi win for FURIA went from 1.57 to 1.28 in last 30 minutes before game (from api history), other ATOX games from EPL had no significant dropping odds,” someone else speculated.