Everything Wrong with the NiP Investigation by WESA
The investigation by WESA into alleged failings by NiP is over, yet the controversy has only begun.
Since its release on Wednesday, analysts found numerous problems with its operation, from its ordering to how it reached its conclusion.
What Went Wrong?
Starting with the man put in charge of the investigation, we can already see some conflicts of interest arising.
Ian Smith, a member of the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC), was tasked with the investigation, a move that would be well-received if it weren’t for one crucial detail. He’s a member of WESAs board of directors along with Hicham, the man he’s investigating.
Smith had too much conflict of interest to be put in charge of the investigation. However, that wouldn’t change how little time was given for it to be done.
WESA gave Smith only six days to go through 20,000 emails on his own, emails in a language he has no familiarity with, Swedish.
According to Smith, he had to rely on Google Translate for all the translating, which while useful for a student doing their language homework is entirely unacceptable for a professional-level investigation.
With the massive emails and amateur-level translating, it’s unlikely he was able to get through all 20,000 in six days.
Furthermore, the investigation only looked into the new NiP, not the old one (referred to as NEWCO and OLDCO, respectively, in the report). This means that the time in which most of the controversy occurred wasn’t looked into.
So what did the investigation turn up? According to Smith, the investigation proved NiP and Hicham’s innocence. But, if you dig deeper, you’ll find evidence of unsound business practices and significant money taken from NEWCO by former management.
The rabbit hole is only getting deeper, and people across the community are rushing to investigate the matter for themselves.
Stay-tuned, Jake will be bringing you a full review of the report next week, and as always we’ll keep you updated as the situation develops.
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