ESIC bans zLy for life, suspends three players five years

The Esports Integrity Commission has banned Egor ‘zLy’ Polyakov for life and suspended Dmitriy ‘propleh’ Senigov, Aleksandr ‘Ruler’ Maximov and Petr ‘timeagento’ Markheev for five years for using cheating software and engaging in match manipulation across multiple teams and competitions.

ESIC cited ‘the severity of the conduct and the player’s formal admission of guilt, alongside a request for a permanent ban’ as reasons for the lifetime ban. Polyakov, 26, was last listed on the SEAW roster during the Asian Open Qualifier for ESL Challenger Melbourne 2024. The other three players received five-year suspensions for their roles in the same investigation.

The sanctions follow earlier action taken in October 2025 related to an investigation involving Erkhan ‘gokushima’ Bagynanov. Gokushima provided information and corroboration to the commission; his match-fixing ban was reduced from two years to 18 months and 13 days, ending October 10, 2025, as a result of that cooperation.

Dmitriy ‘propleh’ Senigov has appeared on rosters for Monolith, 1win and NASR. He was a member of Victory Zigzag, the team that qualified for BLAST Premier Fall Showdown 2023 but did not play in that event after teammate Joel ‘joel’ Holmlund was suspended and coach Ivan ‘Hardwell’ Alekseev received a coach ban from FACEIT for cheating. ESIC’s recent rulings link those earlier enforcement actions to the broader probe into manipulation and cheating.

The commission has issued other recent sanctions: a four-year ban on Dmytro ‘nifee’ Tediashvili on April 1 for manipulation and betting-related corruption, and a lifetime ban on Maurizio ‘MAUschine’ Weber for an on-stage assault at the CAGGTUS LEIPZIG LAN PARTY.

ESIC did not publish detailed technical evidence in its public notices, stating only that investigations included corroborating information from cooperating participants. The banned players are ineligible to take part in ESIC-affiliated events and in many tournaments that recognize ESIC rulings while the suspensions remain in effect.