MPL Malaysia suspends player for match-fixing

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) athlete Nik ‘Dominus’ Muhyyiddin has been suspended for attempted match-fixing by MPL Malaysia, the country’s Mobile Legends Bang Bang league.

MPL Malaysia also found the Bountee Esports player guilty of offering financial incentives to Bountee Esports players to throw a match.

As a result, Dominus has been suspended from MLBB Malaysia’s esports ecosystem for one year. This includes both MPL and MAL Malaysia as well as any event endorsed by the game’s publisher MOONTON.

Dominus has competed in MLBB since 2018, notably for Malaysian esports organisation Geek Fam. Whilst at Geek Fam, Dominus won MPL MY/SG Season 3 in 2019.

In late 2023, Dominus was signed by Bountee Esports and secured a place in MPL Malaysia Season 13 after winning promotion to the league earlier this year.

Issues were first brought to light on April 13th when Bountee shared the following on Facebook: “It is brought to our attention that there are allegations involving Bountee Esports and its members in MPL Malaysia.” The organisation promised full cooperation with the league’s investigation.

The investigation results were shared on MPL’s official statement on social media on April 18th. According to the post, Dominus was found guilty of two counts of attempted match-fixing as well as two incidents of attempting to provide financial incentives to Bountee Esports players to purposefully lose a match.

Bountee Esports was not found to have committed any rule violations.

In Bountee’s response, the organisation supported the decision: “We accept the verdict of the recent investigation involving Bountee Esports, and we appreciate Moonton’s diligent, fair and thorough examination throughout the investigation process.”

Despite the match-fixing incident, MOONTON and MPL Malaysia are committed to growing the country’s MLBB esports landscape throughout 2024. Malaysia will host this year’s M6 World Championship, which is the largest international tournament in the MLBB competitive calendar.

The country’s MPL league also received a larger venue for its 2024 season, supported by telecommunications operator Hotlink.