Wild Rift Coach Fired for Match-Fixing and Player Threats
FENNEL esports organization has terminated the contract of James 'Hamezz' Santos, their Wild Rift coach after an investigation uncovered his attempt to corrupt a match with his team.
In a shocking development, James 'Hamezz' Santos, an analyst and coach for FENNEL, has been fired after an internal investigation exposed his plans to manipulate the results of a match in the Wild Rift League Asia. On June 12, Santos made a frank public admission of his attempted match-fixing scheme, confessing his attempts at profiting from betting on the game through his dealings with a friend.
The fraudulent plot was to ensure a particular defeat of FENNEL in their final regular season match against Nigma Galaxy, by Hamezz's own design. The Filipino analyst brazenly revealed details of his misdeeds, leaving no doubts about his intentions to disrupt the Wild Rift league's competitive integrity.
The reputed analyst, Hamezz, made a startling revelation that they should lose their upcoming match, the team would not gain any prize money and remain in a lowly sixth place. Knowing this, he sought to guarantee his players at least $100,000 in winnings, no matter the outcome. He thus attempted to lure the players of FENNEL into a match-fixing scheme.
Proofs of this scandalous endeavor were presented in screenshots and videos depicting discussions with these same players, in which Hamezz implored them to alter the result of the match. Subsequently, his Facebook page was set to private in order to conceal the evidence, yet a single screenshot displaying his acknowledgment of guilt was fortunately saved before he could perform damage control. Wild Rift coach John 'Glaceox' Lim then posted this screenshot to Twitter, bringing Hamezz's illicit activities to light.
FENNEL swiftly released its own statement in response to Hamezz's actions. The esports organization conducted an internal investigation, then unhesitatingly terminated Hamezz's contract. Evidence revealed that Hamezz had instructed Ken 'RyuKen' Flores, Robert 'Trebor' Mansilungan, Aden 'Aker' Baranda, and Miguel 'Arisen' Pison to purposely lose a match in the WRL Asia 2023 on June 9. Furthermore, it came to light that Hamezz had placed a suspicious online bet stating that FENNEL would lose 2-0 to Nigma.
FENNEL declared that Trebor immediately objected to the proposal, while the other players were initially tempted by the idea but eventually decided against it. On June 11, FENNEL humbled Nigma in a stunning 2-1 victory, ultimately netting a sixth-place finish in the regular season.
In spite of the misjudged match-fixing arrangement, Hamezz was driven to intimidatory tactics against RyuKen, Aker, and Arisen, the original participants of the deal. Moreover, FENNEL revealed that Hamezz even resorted to the extreme measure of reporting their transgressions to Riot Games.
The players wishing to protect themselves from any eventual consequences notified the team manager of the match-fixing plot. FENNEL's official statement attests to Hamezz's complicity in the organization's outlined timeline and facts. And yet, there has been no word from Riot Games concerning the incident.
