Banned ex-COD pro who was banned for hacking is trying to make a comeback

A former Call of Duty pro who was banned during the Call of Duty Championship, caught in a ban wave targeting hackers, is attempting to make a comeback — and has apparently been approved to compete by tournament organizers.

In July 2023, Team Orbit was disqualified from the Challengers Champs after player Bryan ‘Jimbo’ Sabman was hit with a ban mid-event amid a huge ban wave from Activision that targeted hackers and those using cheating software.

It was the first time someone competing in the upper echelons of COD esports had been caught cheating and left question marks over his teammates and to what extent Jimbo had been cheating during online matches and tournaments.

While Jimbo initially put out a tweet — which has since been deleted, along with all other tweets on the account he got rid of — saying that it was a mistake and there was “no reason” for his ban, he did not respond to Dexerto’s request for comment at the time and the ban was never revoked.

While Jimbo then went dark and didn’t show up again in the Call of Duty scene for several months, it appears he’s attempting to make his comeback, and Challengers administrators FACEIT are reportedly letting it happen.

Jimbo, under the pseudonym Jimbolah, has signed up for the April 20 NA Challengers Cup alongside teammates Prospect, Archives, and TayBTC, and according to Challengers news platform The Rotation, they “won’t be playing” but have been given approval by FACEIT.

Shortly after it was announced that Jimbo and his team were trying to compete in the Challengers Cup, FaceIT admins confirmed that Jimbo was NOT eligible to play and would not be participating.

Ban evasion is a punishable offense by Activision and if Jimbo does play again, it seems unlikely that he’ll be allowed to simply continue as normal.

If he does compete, opponents and viewers will question the legitimacy of his gameplay, and it may raise some awkward questions for his teammates too.