Following on from a number of recent well-documented issues in the UK CSGO scene, including one at our last event, the following players are now subject to bans from all epic.LAN events:

• Ben 'krby' Kirby - 1 Year (Cheating)
• Joseph 'Joee' Leigh - 2 Years (Cheating - VAC Banned)
• Charlie 'K1NDEADLY' Weber - 2 years (Drug Use)

These bans will be for a minimum of the periods identified above and will be reviewed at that time. 

While the cheating incidents did not occur at our events, we are working closely with other UK eSports operators to apply consistent bans in order to encourage fair play at UK tournaments. In the case of "K1NDEADLY", there is a clear admission of breaking our event terms at epic.EIGHTEEN and we must show a zero tolerance approach. 

Jon Winkle, epic.LAN Managing Director, issued the following statement:

"We must be absolutely clear in our stance when it comes to use of illegal substances at our event, we will not accept it and anyone involved will be removed and banned from future events. If we find that others were involved in this particular incident or any other in the future of a similar nature, the same punishments will apply. In terms of cheating, whether this takes place at our events or at other UK events, cheaters are simply not welcome at epic.LAN and we're going to follow the good examples set by ESL and Multiplay by applying these bans to our event too."

Furthermore, we will be taking this opportunity to review our code of conduct for our event participants to improve the quality of the event and tournament. This will include, but not be limited to, areas such as cheating, substance misuse, timekeeping and abuse towards other participants and event staff.