Solo Calls for a Fair Punishment for the 322 Incident

Alexey “Solo” Berezin believes a lifetime ban is the only fair punishment for the 322 incident, one that will help eradicate this phenomenon.

The player shared this opinion on YouTube.

“Can I share my experience with young players and protect them? Probably, yes. Of course, I have a stance on this. I was very, very lucky. I got off with a scare and a one-year ban. It was the first case and set a precedent. That’s when I first got in touch with IceFrog. I found him on Skype and asked what the consequences would be. He said that the whole thing was being handled outside of Valve. He evasively replied that they hadn’t banned anyone from The International tournaments. That’s when I realized that the whole story could be revived.

Given the current situation, I believe a lifetime ban is a fair punishment. It’s the only way to try to eradicate “322.” Although doing so is very difficult, if not practically impossible. But at least they’ll realize that their career will be over on that day. Yes, I’m lucky. I even got some media attention out of it. A lot of people wanted to go on my Twitch channel and type “322.” I took it in stride with the help of my friends and colleagues.

It wasn’t my idea. I wasn’t the one who started it. I wasn’t the only one who did it. I took the blame so that no one else would get dragged into it. There can be no excuses here. It’s unacceptable.”

According to Alexey “Solo” Berezin, even if it’s possible to completely eradicate the problem of match-fixing, doing so is extremely difficult, since players can reap secondary benefits from the hype surrounding their involvement in a fraudulent scheme. The esports player believes that his case—which was the first 322 incident in the history of the pro scene—resulted in a relatively lenient punishment, and that he was very lucky to receive such a mild penalty.

As a reminder, Santiago “Tailung” Agüero previously promised to return to the pro scene after the high-profile 322 scandal ahead of The International 2026.