The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) has announced its final decision regarding the punishment for 20-year-old professional CS2 player Joel “joelxd” Holmlund, who was previously found guilty of competition violations. The Swedish player has been banned from all ESIC-partnered tournaments for life.
During the CCT Season 2 European Series #7, joel was caught using a premium hardware cheat (Asdfware EFI bootkit) that included aimbot, triggerbot, and ESP features. The prohibited software was detected by Akros Anti-Cheat, and its presence was later confirmed through expert analysis. The existence of the executable and configuration files indicated a deliberate intention to use cheats in competitive play.
Holmlund responded to the accusation in writing and admitted to the offense. At his request, and in response to his cooperation with the investigation, ESIC agreed to postpone the public announcement of his suspension to facilitate his transition to other employment. However, after this period, joel threatened to blackmail ESIC with fabricated accusations in response to the commission`s intention to announce the decision – an action that ESIC considers a blatant violation of their integrity program.
Joel`s latest offense is his third violation of the ESIC integrity program in the last period. It reflects a persistent disregard for the principles of integrity and fair play in esports.
ESIC noted that Joel violated more than 12 points of the rules in total. As a result, it was decided to impose a lifetime ban on Holmlund from participating in all tournaments, leagues, or other events organized by or affiliated with ESIC partners. Tournament organizers who are not members of the organization, and game publishers (including Valve), have also been recommended to uphold the established restrictions and ensure they are not violated. The punishment is already in effect.