47 Esports disqualified from BGIS 2024 for bribery allegations
47 Esports has been disqualified from the ongoing Battlegrounds Mobile India Series (BGIS) over bribery allegations. The team had recently participated in the fourth round and was relegated to the wildcard stage. So far, several teams have been banned from this mega tournament for violating rules like cheating, ringing, and others. However, this was the first time when a team was banned for bribery allegations in the event.
The fourth round of BGIS has concluded and the wildcard stage is now underway. Featuring a humongous prize pool of ₹2 crore, the tournament will continue until June 30, 2024.
Krafton disqualifies 47 Esports from BGIS for bribery allegations
On May 31, 2024, Krafton posted on their social media pages about disqualifying Team 47 Esports from the event. The publisher mentioned:
"It is with regret that we must announce a significant decision affecting the integrity and fairness of the said competition. Team 47 Esports have been officially banned from participating in BGIS 2024 due to violations of the tournament's Code of Conduct/Ruleset. An investigation confirmed that the team engaged in 6.3.B activity that directly violated these rules. These actions undermine the sportsmanship, integrity, and fairness that BGIS stands for."
The section 6.3.8 of the BGIS’s rule book states:
"No Team Member may offer any gift or cash or other reward to a player, coach, manager, other Team Member, Tournament Official, the Tournament Organizer, KRAFTON, or any other person connected with or employed by another Team in order to influence the outcome of a Tournament Game."
47 Esports was seeded in Group 2 of the India Series Round 4 and finished 11th with 25 points. The team had a below-average performance in their group. Upon disqualification, their points in the event were nullified.
The wildcard phase features many experienced and well-known teams competing for the 16 remaining slots in Semifinals Week 1. Popular names like GodLike, Soul, Entity, and Gujarat Tigers are among the 16 contenders. These teams had a mediocre run in the previous stage and the wildcard is a do-or-die phase for them, as the bottom 48 teams from the overall rankings will be eliminated from the India Series 2024.
16 teams have already achieved their positions in the semifinals. The competition is becoming more competitive by the day as many experienced teams have faced tough challenges in the previous stages. The tournament is being broadcast live on the Krafton India Esports' YouTube channel.