Tag: Cheating

Canada’s men’s and women’s soccer teams have reportedly been using spying drones for years

Canada soccer is reportedly in even more hot water after the New Zealand drone incident revealed years of spying.

The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris haven’t even had an opening ceremony yet, and we’re already dealing with a potential cheating scandal.

According to a report from New Zealand media, the New Zealand women’s national soccer team caught Canada using a drone to spy on the squad’s Monday practice session in Saint-Etienne — the site of Thursday’s Group A match between the two sides.

French police have been stationed at the various practice facilities to be on the look out for drones during team sessions and spotted the drone during the Football Ferns’ session. With this Canada-New Zealand incident, a member of the Team Canada support staff was detained by police.

New Zealand made a formal complaint to the IOC integrity unit. And Canada didn’t deny the accusation, blaming a “non-accredited” staffer for going rogue with the drone. The Canadian Olympic Committee also issued an apology in its statement.

Canada — the No. 8 ranked team by FIFA — would have been considered heavy favorites against 28th-ranked New Zealand. But we’ll have to see what sanctions — if any — are taken against Canada as group play opens.

Update: The Canada Olympic Committee reviewed the incident and uncovered that another drone was used to spy on New Zealand’s July 19 practice session.

Team Canada sent home two staff members, and Canada women’s soccer head coach Bev Priestman will sit out Thursday’s match. She issued a statement:

“On behalf of our entire team, I first and foremost want to apologize to the players and staff at New Zealand Football and to the players on Team Canada. This does not represent the values that our team stands for,” Priestman said. “I am ultimately responsible for conduct in our program. Accordingly, to emphasize our team’s commitment to integrity, I have decided to voluntarily withdraw from coaching the match on Thursday. In the spirit of accountability, I do this with the interests of both teams in mind and to ensure everyone feels that the sportsmanship of this game is upheld.”

Update: According to a new report from TSN’s Rick Westhead, Canada’s men’s and women’s soccer teams have been using drones to spy on opposing programs for years, including during the women’s gold medal run at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

As the fallout from the New Zealand drone saga continues, Canada’s women’s head coach Beverly Priestman has also been suspended from the 2024 Paris Olympics.

If this new report is anything to go by, it’s clear Canadian soccer is set to face even more ramifications, especially if their gold medal in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics is in doubt.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=11490]

Boat involved in notorious walleye cheating scandal could be yours

Two men surrendered the $100,000 boat after they were found to have stuffed weights into their fish at a Lake Erie tournament. Now the vessel is up for auction.

Anglers around the country might recall the highly publicized cheating scandal in October 2022, involving two men who were found to have stuffed weights into their fish during a Lake Erie walleye tournament.

What anglers might not know is that, for the right price, they could own the top-line bass boat, motors and trailer used by the cheaters and later confiscated by Ohio authorities.

(Jacob Runyan and Steven Gall also received 10-day jail sentences.)

According to Government Deals, a public viewing and demonstration of the boat, valued at $100,000, will be held Saturday (July 13) at the Dempsey Fishing Access Area in Lakeside Marblehead, Ohio.

The 2022 Ranger 622 FS Pro Bass Boat is currently in the possession of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

Bids are being accepted online through July 23 and the highest bid, as of July 11, was $82,000.

Riley Dixon debunks cheating allegations with a funny Instagram story

Broncos holder Riley Dixon silenced cheating allegations by showing a nasty turf burn on the back of his hand from Monday’s game in Buffalo.

The Denver Broncos defeated the Buffalo Bills in a wild Monday Night Football game last week thanks to a retaken last-second field goal.

Earlier in the game, Broncos kicker Wil Lutz missed an extra point. Later, punter Riley Dixon mishandled a hold, resulting in a second botched extra point attempt against the Bills.

So after Denver had failed to convert a pair of extra points earlier, a 41-yard field goal on a windy night to win the game was no sure thing. Lutz missed his kick, but the Broncos were gifted a second chance after Buffalo was penalized for having 12 men on the field.

After moving the ball up five yards, Lutz converted from 36 yards out and the Broncos walked away with a 24-22 win. What a crazy game!

The drama didn’t end there, though. After the game, fans on Twitter began accusing Dixon of cheating and using a sticky substance to make it easier to hold for Lutz’s game-winning field goal.

The back of Dixon’s hand had a bad turf burn wound that looked like pine tar. Dixon had the perfect response on his Instagram story this week, sharing a photo of his bruised hand with the caption “Does anyone know how to get spider tac off my hand? Asking for a friend.”

Dixon, of course, was joking. It’s easy to tell from the photo that Buffalo’s artificial turf tore up the back of his hand.

So that should put an end to the conspiracy theories. See a sampling of the accusations below.

Michigan sign stealing scandal: Social media reacts

Did Harbaugh know?

The biggest story in college football this week is the sign stealing controversy at Michigan.  As the days have gone on we’ve learned that the depths Michigan went to get opponents signs ahead of games is quite thorough.

This from our colleagues at Wolverines Wire:

According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Connor Stalions — the NCAA’s person of interest — has reportedly purchased tickets to more than 30 games of Michigan football’s opponents over the past three years, and he did so in his own name, per the report. Thamel says that ESPN has extensive evidence also of the paper trail and that 11 Big Ten schools have provided proof of the claims.

Woof.  Where there is smoke there is usually fire is all I’ll say for now.

In regards to Notre Dame and why it matters to Fighting Irish Wire:  despite Michigan not being on the schedule annually anymore, they’re still as big of rival that the Irish have outside of USC.  Anything that happens with Michigan is relevant to Notre Dame in terms of recruiting and program building.

With that in mind, here is how social media has reacted in the wake of the cheating scandal in Ann Arbor.

Bernhard Langer calls recent pro golfer cheating scandal ‘foolish’ and ‘stupid’

“How can you think you’re going to get way with changing a scorecard?”

[anyclip pubname=”2122″ widgetname=”0016M00002U0B1kQAF_M8171″]

During last week’s Ottawa Open on the PGA Tour Canada, Justin Doeden cheated.

Doeden, after his playing partner signed the scorecard, changed his score on the last hole of his second round from a seven to a five. This put him one stroke above the 36-hole cut number and would have sent 13 other players home early.

Players noticed the discrepancy during lunch and reported it. Tournament officials discovered Doeden used an eraser to change the score, but he withdrew from the tournament during the investigation. He didn’t respond to a request for comment but did confess in a social media post Monday.

On Wednesday, Bernhard Langer was asked about the scandal during his pre-tournament press conference at the Senior Open being held this week at Royal Porthcawl in Bridgend, Wales.

“It’s obviously very disappointing when anybody cheats because the game of golf was built and founded on honesty and integrity and that’s what we try to teach our younger generations, and that’s what we all try to be, role models for that and uphold the rules,” he said.

“Let’s face it, golf is very unique in that way. What other sport penalizes yourself? If you’re a soccer player, and you kick the other guy, you go, I didn’t touch him, I didn’t do anything, would you ever say, I tripped this guy, you need to give a penalty. You’ll never see that, ever. Any other sport, tell me any sport, tennis, you always think it’s in.

“You never say, it’s out.

“What I’m trying to say is golf is very unique where we penalize ourselves. I’ve done it to me. I had a 3-foot putt, I lined it up, I put my putter behind it, looked at the hole, I put it back. The ball moved marginally. Nobody saw it, not even a TV camera could pick it up, but I knew the line wasn’t where I had put it. I called for a ruling, and well, the rule is, you address it, you get a one-shot penalty, and that cost me $330,000, and I called it on myself. You don’t see that in any other sport.

“But to me it’s foolish, especially changing a scorecard is ridiculous, really. I mean, how can you think you’re going to get away with changing a scorecard? You’re not just breaking a rule. You’re actually stupid.”

Langer was 2 over through the first 12 holes of his opening round at Royal Porthcawl, seven back of Miguel Ángel Jiménez who posted a first-round 5-under 66.

Professional golfer busted for cheating, confesses he did it

Players first noticed something wasn’t right about his 36-hole total of 3-under during lunch and reported it.

[anyclip pubname=”2122″ widgetname=”0016M00002U0B1kQAF_M8171″]

Justin Doeden forgot the saying cheaters never win.

The 28-year-old pro on Monday confessed he cheated last week at PGA Tour Canada’s Ottawa Open.

He stood accused of changing his score on the final hole of his second round at Eagle Creek Golf Club from a 7 to a 5 after his card already had been signed by his playing partner. That brazen act meant his incorrect score would be good enough to make the 36-hole cut by one stroke at T-60. It also would have prevented 13 other players from making the cut and deprived them of earning a paycheck for the week.

Ryan French of the Monday Q Info first reported the story.

“At scoring, the player who kept Doeden’s card confirmed his scores and signed it,” French wrote. “Doeden then asked for the card, saying he wanted to double-check some things. Not thinking anything of it, the player handed the card to Doeden and left the scoring area. When he gave it to Doeden, the 18th hole showed a 7.”

Players first noticed something wasn’t right about his 36-hole total of 3-under during lunch and reported it to tournament officials who discovered Doeden’s use of an eraser to change his score. Doeden withdrew from the tournament during the officials’ investigation. He initially did not respond to a request for comment from French.

On Monday, he confessed he cheated in a social media post and asked for forgiveness.

“I am here to confess of the biggest mistake I have made in my life to date,” he wrote. “I cheated in golf. This is not who I am. I let my sponsors down. I let my competitors down. I let my family down. I let myself down. I pray for your forgiveness. John 1:9.”

Doeden, who played collegiately at the University of Minnesota and has competed in one event each on the Korn Ferry and PGA Tours while spending the bulk of his time on PGA Tour Canada and PGA Tour Latinoamerica, likely will be suspended under the Tour’s catch-all of “conduct unbecoming” but we’ll never know.

“Per Tour policy, the matter — and any related disciplinary action — will be handled internally,” a spokesperson for the PGA Tour told the media.

Regardless, Doeden will wear the scarlet letter of being a cheater, and that will be an enormous burden for him to bear.

[pickup_prop id=”34256″]

[lawrence-related id=778376828,778372202,778370898]

Everything we learned from Hustler Casino Live’s investigation into controversial Robbi Jade Lew, Garrett Adelstein poker hand

Nearly three months later, Garrett Adelstein’s claims of cheating remain unfounded.

Nearly three months after an alleged cheating scandal rocked the world of Texas Hold Em’ poker, Hustler Casino Live and parent company High Stakes Poker Productions released a long-awaited report detailing an intense investigation into pro players Garrett Adelstein, Robbi Jade Lew and the events surrounding the September 29 game.

Experts in cybersecurity and private investigations found “no conclusive evidence of wrongdoing”, while dispelling many of the myths and theories surrounding Lew’s actions that night.

The full report and it’s conclusions can be read here.

Among the key findings:

  • “The assessment of HCL’s systems and security controls are inconclusive in determining if cheating occurred. It should be noted that a lack of evidence does not imply cheating did or didn’t occur.”

  • “There was no evidence of tampering, remote access, viruses, rogue hardware installed, or previously installed programs on the machines that are used daily.”

  • “The Deckmate shuffling machine is secure and cannot be compromised”

  • “It’s extremely unlikely that any card-reading device could have been stored in a water bottle or other object on the table”

  • “The PokerGFX system was free and clear of malware, installed programs or systems that could intercept hands.”

“HSPP has spent more than $100,000 and significant hours of its time to conduct a thorough investigation,” The report stated. “Based on the findings of cybersecurity experts, interviews with players, employees and third parties, a review of video of hands played on the show and surveillance video inside the casino and parking lot, no conclusive evidence of wrongdoing related to the Sept. 29 hand was found.”

Notably, HCL stopped short of completely clearing Lew’s name, explaining that a lack of credible evidence produced by the investigation does not mean no wrongdoing took place.

Based on recommendations from the firms hired to conduct the investigation—including Bulletproof and The Solution Group — HCL has made a number of enhancements to its security systems and hiring procedures, though neither appear to have been compromised during play on September 29.

One of the more compelling theories posited by YouTubers and amateur sleuths involved Lew allegedly using an electronic device that could pick up RFID signals transmitted by the cards back to the production room. This notion was roundly dismissed by investigators as less than plausible.

Investigators were unable to recreate a scenario in which this method could work despite having access to the playing room, the table used during the September 29 game and all production equipment:

“A problem with applying these scenarios to an RFID poker table—aside from the antenna tuning, Electro Magnetic Interference (EMI) and power problems—is that there are multiple cards on the table, including those in the dealer’s hands, that would also be read by a strong enough reader that is sending a forward-charging signal,” The report concluded.

“Furthermore, an attacker would have to catalog each card’s value by its encoded Universal Unique Identifier (UUID) on all card decks and have it readily available to translate to the card value. If a device was strong enough to charge the coils on the playing cards from a distance, it would charge all the cards in its path, including the ones in the dealers’ hands which are around 1 inch from the 9th seat’s cards.”

Another popular theory assumed Lew was working with one or more accomplices, including former HSPP employee Bryan Sagbigsal—who stole $15,000 in chips off Lew’s stack on September 29. Lew initially declined to press charges against Sagbigsal but has since reversed course. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office charged Sagbigsal with two counts of felony theft, which can be read here.

Additionally, investigators dismissed any notion that Lew and Sagbigsal were working together.

“Solution Group investigators were not able to identify any prior relationship between Ms. Lew and Mr. Sagbigsal,” The report said. “Hustler Casino staff said surveillance video also failed to provide evidence of an inappropriate relationship between Ms. Lew and Mr. Sagbigsal.”

Following the controversial hand, Lew tweeted Adelstein strong-armed her into returning his half of the $269,000 pot. It’s unclear if Adelstein will now hand that money back to Lew.

In the meantime, Adelstein has written numerous blog posts explaining how Lew cheated despite offering clear evidence. He has not played in a pro tournament or live-stream since.

“There’s I guess a world in the next several weeks or months where maybe I’m able to process this and want to play a poker game. But at the moment, that’s not how I feel,” Adelstein told Andrea Chang of the Los Angeles Times in mid-October.

“I’m not playing poker on a stream again unless I see tangible, noticeable, measurable differences in livestream security. That’s for my own benefit and it’s for the benefit of the poker community at large.”

On Twitter, Lew has been teasing a return to live-streamed games, including HCL, though it’s unclear when she’ll be back at the table.

Lucas Giolito on Astros’ 2017 World Series: ‘All those teams were cheating’

Maybe Houston wasn’t the only problem.

Many fans and players around baseball are still rightfully worked up over the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal in 2017 and 2018. Especially since the Astros won the World Series at the height of the scheme.

Lucas Giolito has a bit of a tougher time with that line of thinking. And he doesn’t believe Houston winning the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies this year is required to legitimize the Astros’ previous title run.

Speaking to Chris Rose Rotation show via Jomboy Media, the White Sox starter said he believes every team in the 2017 postseason was cheating—the Astros were just the only ones who got caught red-handed.

“Based on everything I’ve heard, it was like all the teams that were in the postseason that year were doing the same [expletive],” Giolito told Rose. “I think that’s also kinda why the players kinda had that half-apology energy when they were apologizing for all this stuff, because they probably knew like ‘Man we got caught, but everyone was kinda doing this stuff.'”

The 2017 postseason featured the Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox, Cubs, Guardians, Diamondbacks and Rockies with the Astros defeating New York in the ALCS before taking down the Dodgers in seven games to claim the World Series.

This is not an entirely new line of thinking from Giolito. In 2017, the Yankees and Red Sox accused each other of using technology to decode and transmit signs. The Brewers accused the Dodgers of doing the same during the 2018 NLCS and former Houston bench coach and Red Sox manager Alex Cora is implicated in commissioner Rob Manfred’s final report on the matter.

Again, Houston has rightfully grabbed the majority of the headlines for its use of sign stealing technology, but it certainly seems as though players around the sport have a bit more trouble determining who the real villains are here.

Whether or not a title in 2022 would legitimize the Astros’ dominance over the last decade almost seems moot. Especially when many of the current roster’s most-exciting players weren’t even around in 2017.

Does that make any of this any easier for fans to process? Probably not. But since when have baseball controversies ever been simple?

[listicle id=1977339]

[mm-video type=video id=01ggdcjdxq13f39c240p playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01ggdcjdxq13f39c240p/01ggdcjdxq13f39c240p-2dac4d10147065187af1bad646ba903c.jpg]

Formula E driver suspended for cheating in a charity eSports tournament

Daniel Abt tabbed a professional eSports driver to take part in a charity virtual race.

Daniel Abt, a pro Formula E racer with the Audi team, was suspended this week after it was revealed he hired a ringer to compete for him in a charity virtual race.

Abt was kicked out of the race, and ordered to pay 10,000 Euros to charity, for the infraction.

After the discovery, Abt apologized, saying: “I did not take it as seriously as I should have.”

The man Abt is accused of hiring is Lorenz Hoerzing, a pro gamer who has also been banned.

In a statement about his suspension, Audi wrote:

“Daniel Abt did not drive his car in qualifying and the race at the fifth event of the Race at Home Challenge on May 23 himself, but let a professional sim-racer do so.

“…Integrity, transparency and consistent compliance with applicable rules are top priorities for Audi — this applies to all activities the brand is involved in without exception. For this reason, Audi Sport has decided to suspend Daniel Abt with immediate effect.”

Making all this more delicious: The Audi Formula E team is run by Abt Sportsline, a company that is owned by Abt’s father.

[jwplayer mlNIEdKt-q2aasYxh]

LeBron James goes off on MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and the Houston Astros

The Lakers’ superstar went off on Manfred.

The Houston Astros and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred have been getting ripped to shreds from all angles over the Astros’ cheating scandal and the league’s lack of consequences for it. We’ve heard it from some of the biggest stars in baseball so far — Mike Trout, Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge included.

You can add LeBron James to that list as one of those angles now.

Manfred is looking absolutely terrible right now for not punishing Houston enough by stripping the Astros of their 2017 World Series title after it was revealed that they were stealing signs throughout that season.

James took to Twitter to voice his displeasure and, hoo boy, did he go in. He didn’t pull any punches with this one.

Ouch.

It may not be James’ sport, but it’s clear that he’s upset about this along with the MLB’s other players. I doubt the Astros’ title will ever be stripped, but man, this thing is getting out of hand.

[jwplayer a4xXL88K-q2aasYxh]