Wednesday 2 November 2022 08:28 PM World of professional cornhole rocked by cheating scandal at league championship trends now
The world of professional cornhole is reeling from a potential cheating scandal that happened several months ago at the 2022 American Cornhole League World Championship.
During the event, held in Rock Hill, South Carolina, the No. 1 ranked team, Mark Richards and Philip Lopez, were accused by a competitor of using bags that were not up to code, which now has fans saying 'the dirty underbelly is being exposed.'
Devon Harbaugh, the rival who filed the complaint, said that he believed at the time the team may have been using under weight bags and against regulation.
'I thought the bags were too thin,' said Harbaugh, who spoke with the Wall Street Journal.
Devon Harbaugh said he thought the bags used by his opponents 'were too thin'
Philip Lopez was one of the two team members who was accused by Devon Harbaugh of having bags that were too small and did not meet regulation
Mark Richards is the other half of the No. 1 team that was accused of having bags that did not meet ACL regulations during the championship in August
While the situation may seem cavalier, the incident is no laughing matter, according to those in the cornhole community.
The prize at stake for the game was $15,000.
During the game, officials were called in to inspect the bags and did in fact discern that the bags, made of resin and fabric, were not up to code.
The state of the bags were so evident that Mark Pryor, a commentator for the game, even commented on the bags, himself.
'They're too small,' Pryor said. 'That's going to create some drama.'
However, the situation quickly escalated as the officials then turned to Harbaugh and his teammate's bags for a similar inspection.
Turns out, Harbaugh and his partner's bags also did not follow the rules.
Bags used during the game must be six by six inches and weigh 16 ounces, the American Cornhole League dictates.
Now dubbed 'BagGate,' the incident has sparked a serious conversation amongst the top players and watchers of the sport.
'I think it's funny that anyone believed it would be all friendships and rose petals forever in cornhole,' wrote one person in the Addicted to Cornhole Facebook group.
The game continued after an hour-long delay and officials who were inspecting the bags ultimately ruled that no violations had been intentional.
Trey Ryder, an American Cornhole League spokesperson, told the Wall Street Journal that cheating was 'possible' but that they believe the bag regulation rules being broke were not on purpose.
'Honestly it could be anything,' Harbaugh said when asked how his team's bags ended up not following the rules. 'Definitely unintentional.'
'I don't know how they became illegal-sized. We did not boil the bags,' Lopez agreed.
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In spite of the bags being unintentionally in violation of the rules, the league has still had to up their protocols and inspections.
'We've really had to crack down
