PALOMA Denies Cheating Allegations After Losing to Monte

A controversy has erupted in the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) scene. After a former pro player accused a rival team of cheating in a major tournament. Viktor “sdy” Orudzhev, who used to play for Natus Vincere (Na'Vi), one of the most successful CS:GO teams in history. Now he plays for Monte, a Ukrainian team that recently won the European Pro League Season Six. And he claimed on Twitter that PALOMA, a Polish team had used wallhack to gain an unfair advantage. Monte had beaten PALOMA 3-0 in the very same match.

The Accusation:

Wallhack is a type of cheat that allows players to see through walls and other obstacles on the map, giving them information about the enemy's position and movement. Sdy said that it was obvious for anyone who knows CS:GO well that PALOMA had cheated and that they should be banned from future tournaments. He also criticized the European Pro League for not using an anti-cheat software to prevent such incidents. He posted two video clips from the grand finals that he said showed PALOMA's suspicious behavior.

The Statement:

The European Pro League consists of  24 teams from Europe competing for a prize pool of $20,000. The tournament organizers issued a statement in response to sdy's allegations, saying that they had not found any evidence of cheating by PALOMA and that they always uphold fair play and integrity in their events. They also asked anyone who had any proof or material to support sdy's claims to submit it to them for further investigation.

See the original tweet here.

PALOMA is a relatively new team in the CS:GO scene, having formed in November 2022 under the name Permitta Esports. They qualified for the IEM Katowice Play-In stage in February 2023 but failed to advance to the main event. Shortly after that, they parted ways with Permitta Esports and joined PALOMA, a Polish organization. They surprised many fans and analysts by reaching the grand finals of the European Pro League season six. Having defeated some of the top teams in Europe.

The Future:

The cheating accusations have sparked a heated debate among fans and players on social media platforms such as Twitter and Reddit. Some have supported sdy's claims and called for PALOMA's disqualification or banishment from future tournaments. While others have defended PALOMA's innocence and questioned sdy's motives and credibility.

None of the Monte or PALOMA players have responded to this statement by the European Pro League.