Valorant esports rocked by match-fixing scandal as Riot launches investigation
North America’s Valorant esports community is reeling after serious allegations of match-fixing surfaced, casting a shadow over the tier-two competitive scene. What began as quiet speculation has grown into a full-scale investigation, prompting swift action from Riot Games and raising difficult questions about integrity in the professional circuit.
The story picked up momentum when Sean Gares, former pro player and now General Manager at Shopify Rebellion, published a video titled The Dark Side of Competitive VALORANT. In the video, Gares describes what he claims is a widespread effort to manipulate match results for profit.
A closer look at the allegations
At the centre of Gares’ claims is an individual referred to as ‘bray’, who he accuses of offering payments to players in exchange for throwing matches. Gares suggests that these arrangements were linked to cryptocurrency groups, including one allegedly run by someone called ‘Cooker’.
Two players were specifically named in the video: Adam ‘Fair’ Elharoun of Blue Otter and Bob ‘Bob’ Tran, currently on FlyQuest RED’s roster. According to Gares, both were involved in suspicious matches, including a game thrown against Burger Boys and another allegedly rigged against Shopify Rebellion.
Both players, along with the accused organisers, have strongly denied any involvement. , “I did not do anything. I am not a part of any of this. Stop posting about me.” , stating, “I can assure you I do not involve myself with any rigging or anything of that nature.”
Interestingly, Gares claimed to have evidence pointing to two additional teams but said he withheld their names to avoid further fallout and to “protect people.”
Riot games responds
Leo Faria, who heads up global operations for Valorant Esports, quickly responded to the concerns. In a , Faria acknowledged the seriousness of the situation and outlined the steps Riot was taking.
“We take all allegations extremely seriously and have been collecting information since they were first shared with us in early May,” Faria said. “We’ve also brought in our integrity partners—IBIA, Sportradar, GRID, and others—to assist with a full and thorough investigation.”
He made it clear that Riot was still in the early stages of verifying the information. “Whistleblowers play an important role in situations like this,” he added. “We value and encourage community reports, but only evidence-based investigations can lead to action.”
Riot also urged players, staff, and fans to report any relevant information directly to officials or via the company’s internal channels, reminding everyone to avoid further engagement if approached about wrongdoing.
Immediate fallout for players
One of the first public responses came from FlyQuest RED, an American professional esports organisation, who chose to temporarily bench Bob Tran following the release of Gares’ video.
“We’ve been made aware of accusations regarding one of our VALORANT GC players,” FlyQuest said. “We have decided to bench the player and will use a stand-in while we conduct our own review of the situation.”
The move didn’t go unnoticed. Some fans think FlyQuest RED did the right thing by acting fast. Others feel that benching someone based on accusations without any hard evidence yet is an extreme move. It’s stirred up a familiar debate about how esports orgs handle these kind of incidents. In the past, responses have been disorganised, and that inconsistency is hard to ignore.
So, what happens now?
We’re still in the middle of it. Riot hasn’t finished digging, and until they do, it’s all a bit murky. But even without a full resolution, this whole situation has exposed weak spots, especially in the tier-two scene. People are asking whether there’s enough protection in place for younger or lesser-known players, and if the current setup really does enough to keep the game fair.
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