Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus gets VAC ban for cheating in CS2 but claims it was “unfair”

Arsenal‘s number nine and Brazil international Gabriel Jesus has appealed to Valve after his Steam account received a VAC ban for Counter-Strike 2, claiming that the ban is “unfair.”

Brazilian football stars such as Neymar Jr., Casemiro and Jesus are known to be big fans of Counter-Strike. The game is exceptionally popular in Brazil, with Neymar often supporting professional side FURIA at major tournaments.

Jesus, however, will be sidelined from playing on VAC-secured servers, after his account was struck with a VAC (Valve anti-cheat) ban on January 22.

The forward posted about his ban on X/Twitter, in hopes of having it overturned – but VAC bans are typically permanent unless there has been a mistake on Valve’s end.

Jesus calls CS2 VAC ban “unfair”

“My account received a VAC ban unfairly,” Jesus posted. “Can you help me?” he asked, tagging the official Counter-Strike 2 account.

VAC bans can be caused by a number of reasons, but is most commonly due to some software interfering with the game program. Of course, this is usually for cheats of some kind, like aim-assistance or wallhacks.

However, some VAC bans have been meted out in error too, such as when a new driver update for AMD GPU users caused a wave of false bans.

As for Jesus’ account, it’s not known exactly what the reason for the ban is yet. What we do know, however, is that he boasted several expensive skins in his inventory, such as an $800 M4A1-S Hot Rod that he had customized with stickers.

In total, his inventory is worth around $40,000, and includes rare skins like an AWP Dragon Lore and AK-47 Wild Lotus.

Although this isn’t exactly big money for a Premier League footballer, if his ban is not lifted, he won’t ever be able to sell any of his skins, as a VAC ban also impacts the user’s ability to trade items.