Like in any other media industry, esports is susceptible to different scandals. There are a few risks, which can lead to this course of events. Doping is not among the first reasons, unlike other sports disciplines. But technical fraud also happens.
Any person in esports, not just a player, is a part of society and has personal and public life with all its strengths and weaknesses. So the players’ wrongful behavior in everyday life and at tournaments stands out especially. Young esportsmen perform in games, but they frequently lack the mature experience to avoid such situations. What is more, in fact, scandal behavior can lead not only to social condemnation but serious consequences in the future. Such behavior brings serious reputation risks to the companies, which have thrill-seekers in their ranks. Let’s have a look at the main scandals in 2022.
Boombl4 and Reputational Risks
The scandal around Kirill Mikhaylov and his wife started at the end of 2021. After offering her hand and heart LiQueen’s intimate details from the past were revealed. The couple denied all the information and married, however, this marriage did not last long. Lika was publishing controversial posts on her channel and then, there was information about their divorce. Na’Vi kicked the player from the roster, citing reputational risks.
The Disqualification of VP
In the second DPC EEU season, the players of Virtus.Pro were one of the main favorites to make it to the Major. The team was beating opponents without problems but it was disqualified from the qualifiers. Pictures on the minimap by the carry of VP, which looked like a “Z” letter, were the reason. The organization and Pure apologized for the incident, has stated that they wanted to offend no one. However, they did not avoid disqualification. Ivan Moskalenko left the team after that.
The Racist Scandal with K1
There was a conflict between two professional Dota 2 players in July. K1 who plays for Beastcoast abused Febby with racist motivations. It happened in the ranked match. Kuku was previously disqualified for such actions. The Peruvian organization quickly became involved and apologized. K1 did the same, so there were no serious sanctions.
The representatives of Beastcoast have given the following commentary on social media: “We were deeply disappointed that K1 had used a racist insult towards Febby in the match on July 11. Beastcoast does not tolerate insulting communication in any form. We take disciplinary action and strive to teach our players the proper behavior model. We must be responsible if we are moving towards a better and inclusive esports industry”.
VP and The Calculation of DPC Points
Another scandal happened around Virtus.Pro. The situation was caused mainly due to the qualification where the team was disqualified. According to Liquipedia, “the Bears” had enough points to advance to TI. Everyone has already congratulated the organization on this achievement, but it appeared Valve calculated it differently, so the team left without an invite.
The Removal of The Head of G2
The community criticized Carlos Rodríguez Santiagos, who is the CEO of G2. It happened due to the celebration video of the team advancing to Worlds, where Andrew Tate, a scandalous ex-kickboxer, was noticed. The problem is that this person is famous for having a controversial reputation as a misogynist and sexist. As a result, Ocelote was suspended from work for some time. The club has stated that the CEO’s actions do not meet the company’s values and culture.
Conclusion
Today, all scandals are over, but we are writing about them, so everyone will be able to draw profound lessons in the future. It is way better to learn from someone’s mistakes. This information should be used as a warning to avoid such actions and their negative impact in the future. You can follow the esports news in the section https://egw.news. Actual events, including scandals, are published there.
