Recently, the ESIC (Esports Integrity Commission) handed out a ban to the 18-year-old Swedish player Joel "joel" Holmlund, who was caught involved in match-fixing. Now is the time to bid farewell to this once very promising player and reminisce about his career.

January 16, 2021 – Galaxy Racer signed Chawzyyy and Joel, replacing two of their players.

For the next 5 months, Joel would be seen playing with the AWP. This was the first time this player made waves in the semi-professional CS:GO scene! It was then that Joel caught the eye of other organizations.

In August 2021, there was a discreet roster change. Joel, then calling himself joelxd, left the team, and was replaced by a player named Twist, formerly of NIP. This transfer went under the radar and remained poorly documented as we couldn't find an official announcement about Joel's departure and details about Twist's contract.

From August 2021 to January 2022, Joel decided to take a break from professional competition, occasionally participating in qualifiers and small cups with various lineups. In January 2022, Joel clinched victory in his debut season in FPL-C, and the following month he took second place in FPL. He seemed ready for intense competition again.

On March 2, 2022, Joel nearly secured a spot in the Antwerp RMR tournament, losing in overtime against Spirit, despite an impressive performance.

From March to July 2022, Joel competed with various teams and gaming partners before ending up in a roster that soon became Monte.

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On October 8, 2022, Monte and Joel turned heads with their gameplay when they qualified and participated in IEM Rio RMR, with Joel boasting one of the highest ratings on the team.

On October 19, 2022, an alleged informant from ESIC named yarabeu attempted to blackmail the team. In response, Monte decided to bench Joel. Later, journalist RLewisReports reviewed the evidence and found no convincing grounds for accusations against Joel.

Even based on such unreliable and suspicious evidence, the organization took steps to protect its reputation and integrity. On October 19, 2022, the same day Yarabeu communicated with the team management, Joel was moved to an inactive roster. By the end of November, he was joined by REDSTAR. With no solid evidence at hand, one can't help but feel sympathy for them, as it's unclear whether they committed any wrongdoings or if they are even under investigation by ESIC, which, to put it mildly, operates with a lot of lag.

  

At this very moment, rumors arose that Joel might have been involved in match-fixing.

January 13th – The GODSENT team returns to Swedish CS, signing a contract with a roster including Joel.

March 27-31 – According to ESIC data, Joel places bets on several matches he participates in, including two bets against his own team. Additionally, over the next month, he places 17 bets on other games.

May 22nd – GODSENT suddenly benches Joel, stating that an official announcement will be made later.

From Monday this week, Joel has been benched from the main roster. The team will play with Golden as a replacement in current and upcoming tournaments. More information will be provided as it becomes available.

 

June 5th – GODSENT also benches players draken and RuStY.

From July to September, Joel continues to participate in various qualifiers and cups in different teams, playing many matches as part of Benched Heroes along with teammates like smooya, fear, and Aunkere.

August 30th – Joel receives a statement from ESIC, accusing him of agreeing to fix match results.

September 17th – Joel participates in the Nordic qualification for BLAST Showdown along with VictoryZigzag and beats the 416Olsk team in the final game. After that, robiin tweets stating that Joel is banned from CCT/GRID for match-fixing and calls on ESIC to take action.

It feels incredible to lose a spot in BLAST Showdown to a player who was benched in his team due to match-fixing (and possible fraud?) and who is banned from CCT/GRID. Makes sense he's allowed to play whatever.

September 20th – ESIC announces Joel's suspension and presents evidence of his involvement in match-fixing and related betting.

September 21st – BLAST announces that Victory Zigzag will be allowed to participate in BLAST Showdown with coach Hardwell as a temporary replacement.

Source - Ludvig Nilsson Twitter