Police in Victoria, Australia have charged five Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) players on allegations that they deliberately lost matches.

That's according to Victoria Police – as reported by Kotaku – which says that those charged allegedly bet on and lost CS:GO matches. It's the first case of its kind in Australia.

This follows six people being arrested in Victoria over match rigging in August 2019. Five of those are the players being charged here for throwing matches, while one of them is also being charged for possession of cannabis and, erm, “conduct that corrupts or would corrupt a betting outcome of an event or event contingency”. One of those arrested seems to have not been charged.

The five men will be appearing in court on September 15th.

“Esports is really an emerging sporting industry and with that will come the demand for betting availability on the outcomes of tournaments and matches,” said Victoria Police assistant commissioner Neil Paterson when the men were arrested in August 2019. 

“It’s important that police and other agencies within the law enforcement, gaming and betting industries continue to work together to target any suspicious activity.

“These warrants also highlight that police will take any reports of suspicious or criminal activity within esports seriously, and we encourage anyone with information to come forward.”