Last week, MDL Philippines Season 3 was supposed to conclude its final week. However, after all the matches finished, what remained were the non-stop rumors on social media about alleged game-fixing in the league. These rumors later permeated into the MPL Philippines.
The issue is still under investigation by the league.
However, with Robert “Hito” Candoy suffering the brunt of the social media backlash and their MPL team also being maligned, the ONIC Philippines management decided to speak up.
In an exclusive interview with Tiebreaker Times, the ONIC PH management opened up about the struggles they experienced over the weekend, even though they are firm that they have no involvement in the allegations hurled against them and their players.
“Napapagod lang kami, lalo na ‘yung socmed namin. Kulang na kami sa tulog. Lagi ko kausap si MOONTON maya’t maya kasi MDL at MPL nadadamay na. Wala kaming ginagawang mali pero kami ‘yung tinitignan. Eh kami nga ‘yung pinakawalang kinalaman sa issue na ito. Walang ni isa sa amin na affiliated o nagpo-promote sa any betting site,” the management said.
The management added that they are very much concerned after witnessing how Hito was affected by the issue, even though he had no involvement in game-fixing whatsoever.
Before 7 pm on Thursday, just a few hours after the issue exploded on social media, the ONIC PH management submitted an incident report to the league operations to chronicle the events that unfolded involving their players and to clarify the issues hurled against them.
“‘Yung usapan ni Hito na nascreenshot, nagbibiruan lang naman sila doon. Ang sabi nga ni Hito doon, ‘Kailangan namin manalo dahil kung hindi papalayasin kami sa bootcamp,'” the management recalled.
The said conversation by Hito with the certain player was already fully released to MOONTON, and it was clear that Hito did not have any intention to engage in betting or game-fixing.
“Wala naman kami nakitang mali sa mga usapan ng mga players namin. Wala kaming nilabas na pangalan, wala kaming tinanggal kasi wala namang maling ginawa ang mga players namin. Ang nakakasakit lang dito ay bakit kinukrusipiy sa social media si Hito dahil lang hindi kami naglalabas ng mga screenshots o nagko-contribute doon sa issue ng game-fixing,” the management expressed.
But the issue did not end there, as after ONIC lost to MINANA Evos in the MPL PH, the team once again made rounds on social media due to certain screenshots of a conversation with ONIC gold laner Duane “Kelra” Pillas being shared.
“After nung kay Hito kasi, pati ‘yung kay Kelra naglabasan. ‘Yung lumabas na screenshot, galing sa isang dating MDL player. Kinuha niya ‘yung screenshot sa lumang convo nila at inedit na kunwari sumama sa betting si Kelra,” the management explained regarding the social media post on Friday which alleged Kelra’s involvement in game-fixing.
The fabricated screenshots tarnishing the players’ reputation forced the management to release a statement on their Facebook page on Friday, and they are currently exploring legal means against those who spread the fabricated screenshots on social media.
“‘Yung talo namin sa MINANA, it was because of the patch. Medyo hindi pa kami nakakapag-adapt fully sa bagong patch na nilabas,” the management clarified.
The management also added that the league operations listened to the in-game comms of the MINANA-ONIC match, and they agreed that there was no trace of conversation between ONIC players about intentionally losing the match.
“It’s clear naman na fabricated lang. It’s something na hindi naman siya connected sa game. Kaya sobrang thankful kami sa management at sa socmed team kasi inaayos agad nila ‘yung mga ganoong fake news para mas makapag-focus ‘yung team sa mga games na kailangan,” added ONIC head coach Tony “Ynot” Senedrin.
For Kelra, he chose not to pay attention to the issue as he didn’t see the need to do so.
“Di ko pinansin ‘yung pinost nila kasi alam naman namin sa sarili namin na gusto talaga namin manalo sa MINANA. Wala namang bentahang nangyari eh,” he said.
“As much as possible, ginagawa ko na linisin ‘yung reputasyon ng mga bata. If we’re gonna win it, we’re gonna win it the right way.”
